Lady Cyclones overwhelm Volunteer on the pitch, 7-0
Published 12:01 am Thursday, August 29, 2019
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Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Kaylen Shell pushes the ball toward the Lady Falcon net. Shell had three goals in the first half to lead the Lady Cyclones to the 7-0 win.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Elizabethton's Maggie Johnson drives the ball forward while being hounded by a Volunteer defender.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Lady Cyclone Abigail Addington fires a pass toward the Volunteer goal in Tuesday's contest.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Kaylen Shell of Elizabethton sends a shot toward the Lady Falcon net in the first half. Shell pulled off the hat trick in the first half to stake 'Betsy to a 6-0 half time lead.
Star Photo/ Ivan Sanders
Elizabethton's Abigail Addington passes the ball in the middle of a host of Lady Falcons.
BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
The Volunteer Lady Falcon goal keep probably wished she had a shield in the early going of Tuesday’s soccer match against Elizabethton at Citizens Bank Stadium the way that the Lady Cyclones were attacking the net in the first 40 minutes of action.
Behind a hat trick by Kaylen Shell and a pair of goals off the foot of Maggie Johnson, the Lady Cyclones built a comfortable 6-0 lead at intermission and added an extra goal in the second half to pick up the 7-0 victory to run their record to 3-0 on the young season and added their first conference win in the process.
Lexi Brown scored the game’s first score after intercepting a pass and drilling the ball into the net at the 12:40 mark of the contest to give Elizabethton a 1-0 lead.
Shell then went on a roll scoring three straight goals in a matter of a little over six minutes. Her first score came at 20:10 on a cross to the box from Bailee Creasy with the assist to extend the lead to 2-0.
At 22:50, Shell took a pass from the side from Maddie O’Quinn and sent the ball flying into the back of the net making it 3-nil Lady Cyclones. Shell closed out her first half scoring at 26:25 in a pass-through from Siana Robey and Elizabethton was comfortably leading 4-0.
It was then Johnson’s turn to get in on the scoring action as the senior took a pass in the box from Shell and put a perfect touch on the ball to give ‘Betsy the 5-0 lead at 28:20 in the first half.
Less than three minutes later, Johnson took a deflection and put it into the net at the 31:50 mark and Elizabethton took the 6-nil lead into the break.
The Lady Cyclones weren’t as productive in the second half offensively as the first but O’Quinn would knock in the final goal of the contest after taking head coach Bill McClay’s advise on a free kick to give the game its final margin of victory, 7-0.
Elizabethton took 21 shots on goal in the contest while freshman goal keep Morgan Heaton handled all four shots on goal with allowing the Lady Falcons an opportunity to even smell a score.
“We moved the ball around well and kept our position really well,” McClay said after the contest. “We shot decently and defended well. We came out in the second half and Bailee went down with the injury and it just kind of took the wind out of our sails.
“She is a key part back in there. We call her our belt buckle back there because when the ball comes there the whole team swivels their hips and we go the other direction. We are going to have to figure something out by Thursday,
“The injury bug has hit pretty bad but we have persevered. It was our first conference win which is always important.”
Elizabethton returns to the pitch again Thursday when they host Jefferson County in a non-conference tilt at 6:30 pm.
