Following its first loss of the season last week at the hands of Polk County, the Avery Lady Vikings soccer squad played with renewed vigor and intensity. Avery blanked Madison last Wednesday, played a talented Providence Academy (TN) team to a 1-1 tie, and defeated the Mountain Heritage Lady Cougars.Avery had the privilege of tangling with the Lady Patriots of Madison at Meares Stadium on the campus of Mars Hill College on April 28th, shortening the team’s road trip and giving the team the familiar synthetic turf surface the team is used to playing on back in Newland. The confines were friendly indeed, as Avery captured a 9-0 win.
For the first 20 minutes of the opening half, the Lady Vikings worked to get into a rhythm offensively. The team had scored only one goal over the previous three matches. In the 21st minute, senior Elyse Perry got the Vikings going with the first score, assisted by junior Mary Chesnut Smith. Seven minutes later, Perry received the corner kick from Smith and got it to sophomore Hannah Washburn who scored the second goal. The goal was the first of the season for Washburn.
Just three minutes later, in the 31st minute, Smith scored a goal of her own, assisted by Emily Banner. The rest of the half was scoreless and Avery carried a 3-0 advantage at intermission.
Finishing, good passes and a plan to continue playing the bench in order to get them more game experience was goals for the second half. An emphasis on good finishes was stressed, not so much to score in this game, but to play smarter in the close games.
Six minutes into the second half, first year player Brooke Whittington, starting in place of the injured Arden Stanley, ran down the ball which was behind the Madison defense and crossed it to Banner, who found herself in traffic. Banner dropped the ball back to Perry who scored with her left foot, her second goal of the evening.
Less than a minute later, stopper Katelynn Eudy sent a long pass forward to Banner, who ran the ball in and placed it behind the keeper to make the score 5-0. In the 51st minute, Banner scored again, with an assist from Smith. Five minutes later, Smith brought the ball up the sideline and crossed it in to Melinda Eggers who scored in the 56th minute. Under two minutes later, Perry assisted Smith on her second goal of the evening.
With more subs playing at a time and some of the back line playing forward, it was not until the 76th minute of the game before Avery struck again. Normally playing outside back, junior Kaley Faulkner was moved forward and put her speed to good use, taking a pass from Eggers to score her first goal of the season. Keeper Mercedes Bentley rarely touched the ball on the evening, and earned another shutout. This was the tenth Viking shutout over a total of 15 games. The Big Red took 20 shots in the first half, scoring on three, and peeled 6 goals which were scored out of 25 shots on goal.
On Friday afternoon, the Lady Vikings traveled to Johnson City to take on the Providence Academy Lady Knights. Providence entered the match with an impressive 9-2-2 overall record. Although the Avery squad did not play to its best for the game, the Lady Vikings managed to leave Johnson City with a 1-1 tie.
The hectic recent portion of the regular season schedule seemed to take a slight toll on the
players. Some of the girls would get some energy at the same time, but not the whole team at one time which made it difficult to score.
The Lady Knights took advantage and tallied the first goal of the match as Rachael Boswell assisted on a shot by Kyler Williams early in the match to take the 1-0 lead.
Even after the Providence Academy Lady Knights got the early goal the girls couldn't get a lot going and trailed 1-0 at halftime.
Well into the second half, off a set piece, Avery finally got on the scoreboard. Mary Chesnut Smith crossed the ball in to the goal face, where Arden Stanley was ready and waiting for the put-in.
Try as they may, the Lady Vikings were not able to score a go-ahead goal, but the defense kept Providence silenced for the remainder of the match. The field, although the best looking grass field the team has seen this year, would still grab the ball and it would throw the girls off, causing many miss kicks and stumbles.
Both teams’ defenses were tough all game long, and neither team budged as the match ended in a deadlock.
Avery moved to 13-1-1, and are 9-1-1 in conference play.
On Monday evening, the Big Red hosted the Lady Cougars from Mountain Heritage. Avery took control early and often en route to an 8-0 shutout of its Yancey County visitor.The Lady Vikings, enjoying the cooler air and home field, got on the scoreboard early and often in the first half. Elyse Perry wore many hats during the evening, singing the National Anthem before the game and then assisting on the first two goals and scoring the third.
One minute into the game, Perry got the ball to Emily Banner for the first score of the
evening. At the 20 minute mark of the opening half, Perry assisted Melinda Eggers who took an accurate shot that sailed past the keeper.
In the 24th minute, Banner assisted Perry on the third goal of the evening. Just seconds later, Katelynn Eudy assisted Mary Chesnut Smith for the first of two goals. Four minutes later, Smith took a pass in the air from Eggers and blistered the ball into the back of the net for the final tally of the half.
After a couple games where the coaches just didn't know what to say to get the girls pumped up, they didn't need to say much at all tonight. The girls were aggressively going to the ball, playing good team ball and taking smarter shots on goal.
Avery head coach Tom Evaul substituted freely both halves and toward the end of the first half and most of the second half. With the game solidly in hand, the game within the game was to get Hayden Blackburn, senior sweeper, in the scorebook.
She has played deep in the defensive end of the field most of her high school career and had never tallied a goal in her high school career. She had several excellent opportunities as her teammates tried to get her the ball as much as possible. The fans were getting into the effort too.
As in the first half, Banner scored the first goal of the second half, this time in the 45th minute off a corner kick by Smith. Banner set up teammate Eggers with a precise pass, which Eggers struck into the goal in netting the second goal in each half.
Less than a minute later, freshman Savannah Perry flicked the ball with her head to Hannah Washburn, who was in front of the goal. Washburn got her knee on the ball
and scored the eighth and final goal of the night.
Five different Lady Vikings scored goals during the victory, with Banner, Eggers and Smith putting in two apiece. Washburn and Perry each scored once, while Perry assisted on a pair of goals. Besides the elder Perry, Banner also had two assists, with one helper each from Eggers, Katelynn Eudy, Savannah Perry and Mary Chesnut Smith.
Avery goal keeper Mercedes Bentley recorded her 11th shut-out of the season as the Lady Vikings moved to 14-1-2, with a 10-1-1 mark in conference play.
The Lady Vikings continued its winning ways with a 4-0 win over Mitchell on Wednesday. Avery will return to the pitch with a match Friday against Thomas Jefferson at 6:30 p.m. It will be the final home game for a pair of seniors, and the Lady Viking program will honor Elyse Perry and Hayden Blackburn for Senior Night this Friday evening at MacDonald Stadium The match with TJCA will be an electric atmosphere and the match will determine the Western Highlands Conference regular season championship and if Avery will host a first-round soccer playoff match next Wednesday.
Avery Lady Vikings Soccer Statistics (through 17 games as of 5/3/10):
Goals: Mary Chesnut Smith (25), Emily Banner (14), Elyse Perry (12), Melinda Eggers (10), Arden Stanley (7*-played in only 13 games), Katelynn Eudy (3) Assists: Smith (23), Banner (19), Eggers (12), Eudy (9), Perry (6) Defense: Avery and junior goalkeeper Mercedes Bentley has recorded 11 shutouts in 17 games this season. Avery has outscored opponents 79-7 in total for the 2010 season to date.
