CLEVELAND, Tenn. – The Lee University women’s soccer team turned in an impressive Senior Day performance with an important 3-1 GSC victory over Mississippi College at the Ray Conn Sports Complex on Sunday afternoon. The win improved the Lady Flames’ record to 6-1-2 in conference play and 6-3-4 overall. The Choctaws dropped to 3-4-3, 7-4-3.
Before the contest, seniors Ashley Eulo, Sydnee Duncan, Katie Wilson, Kassidy Kellett, Tatum Miller and Jordan Blair were honored along with graduate students Mallory Hayden, Beyonce Robinson and Alexis Hale.
The Lady Flames will be back on the road for three straight games starting on Friday at Christian Brothers (6 p.m.). They will then move back to Union for a key match next Sunday (2 p.m.) before playing the final game of the regular season at Valdosta State on Nov. 6.
The aggressive Lee club dominated play for almost the entire 90 minutes. However, it was the Choctaws that put the first point on the board when Lillie Young found the wide-open Lady Flames net and placed her shot into the back of the net at the 6:30 mark of the opening half.
Lee countered right back and evened the score some three minutes later (9:31). Grace Berry, who enjoyed an outstanding weekend of play, put her shot high off a reaching Mississippi College keeper and it sailed into the back of the net.
The physical battle remained deadlocked at halftime (1-1), but the Lady Flames wasted no time in taking the lead for good in the second stanza. Again, it was Berry doing the damage. Her goal (fifth of the year) was assisted by Jordan Blair. The score came at the 46:24 mark.
The 2-1 margin stood until Mallory Hayden, who missed all of last season recovering from knee surgery, blasted a shot that was blocked. However, it came straight back to Hayden who promptly nailed it right past the keeper for her first goal of the year making the final score 3-1. The time of goal was 64:36.
The Lee defense and the overall teamwork was special in the win. Katie Wilson, Avery Sides, Whitney Carrigan and Blair joined goalkeeper Abby Whitcomb in playing the entire 90 minutes.
The dominating play saw the Lady Flames fire 21 shots, taking eight on goal. The defense allowed the Choctaws eight shots, five on goal. Jessi Carro registered five saves for Mississippi College and Whitcomb had four for Lee.
Kellett and Hayden joined Berry as having two shots on goal while Alaysia Nye and Carrigan also had a shot. Corner kicks helped tell the story of the contest. The Lady Flames were awarded six corner kicks and the Choctaws only one.
After having only five fouls called in the first half, Lee picked up 10 in the second frame and finished with 15. Mississippi College had a total of 11 fouls and two yellow cards.
Coach Hughes Thoughts:
“I was really happy with the girls performance today. The effort and toughness was good to see, it allowed us to play our game at a higher level. We are all about getting better every day and we certainly did that today.
This coming week is no different; process, process, process is what we will work to get better each training session.”
