The Avery Lady Vikings returned to their winning ways with a 5-1 win over the Lady Cougars of Mountain Heritage on Monday evening in Burnsville.
Mountain Heritage struck first in the match's opening minute with a quick goal to take a 1-0 advantage. The goal served as a wake-up call for the the Big Red, as Avery equalized the match on a goal by Mary Chesnut Smith off an Emily Banner assist. Avery scored twice more over the next seven minutes of the match. Katie Peters scored the go-ahead goal off a Brianna Strange assist, with Rachel Buchanan providing the helper for a goal from Emily Banner. The goals gave Avery a 3-1 halftime advantage.
The Lady Vikings went on to score two additional goals in the second half to close out the conference win. The second half was a physical tussle, with officials allowing rough play to take place on the pitch. Heritage had opportunities to score, but time after time Avery keeper Cailan Calloway rose to the occasion to turn each scoring chance away.
Elyse Perry tallied a fourth goal to extend the Avery lead. Katie Peters headed a Smith corner kick. The Lady Cougars turned away the initial scoring chance but was unable to clear, opening the door for the Perry outside shot on goal.
Avery closed out the scoring late in the match as Emily Banner scored a second goal off a Kaley Faulkner assist. The Lady Vikings benefitted from a man advantage for the final 12 minutes of the match as a Cougar player received a red card for excessive physicality.
Avery's record stands at 13-3-2 on the season, with a 7-2-1 mark in conference play. Avery takes on Mitchell for Senior Night this Wednesday at Lees-McRae College at the changed time of 5 p.m. The squad closes the regular season with a match at Polk County on Friday.
