Putting it together… Jr. Lady Cyclones down Vance 2-1 on the pitch

Published 4:14 pm Thursday, September 3, 2020

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BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com 
The T.A. Dugger Jr. Lady Cyclones had to pull their season together pretty quickly and in their season’s first game against Liberty Bell, the right pieces hadn’t yet found their place as the Jr. Lady Cyclones fell to Liberty Bell.
After that loss, the team regrouped and learned from their mistakes which showed on Wednesday evening at Citizens Bank Stadium when the Jr. Lady Cyclones evened their season mark at 1-1 with a thrilling 2-1 win over the visiting Jr. Lady Vikings from Vance Middle School in Bristol.
The Jr. Cyclones got on the board first 10 minutes into the contest when Liahna Nave found the net to stake TAD to a 1-0 advantage.
Gracie Estep accounted for the second TAD score when she took a pass from Ava Corum and booted the ball into the goal 22 minutes into the contest giving the Jr. Lady Cyclones enough scoring to allow them to earn their first win of 2020.
“Vance Middle was a tough team,” said Jr. Lady Cyclone head coach Eddie Morrell. “They were scrappy. We compared almost position by position for them in size so it was a really even matchup and it was a hard fought game.
“What got us through tonight was fixing the mistakes from Liberty Bell. We played the whole field. We were not bunched up in the center and we took our time in getting rid of the ball in the keeper position.
“Our passing was good and our communication was great and it led to a positive result tonight.”
Morrell was also happy with his team when it came to executing throw ins which seemed to be a weakness on the road at Liberty Bell.
“Better passing through the lanes keeping the ball to the outside and looking for the ball in space, on our throw-ins, instead of throwing to a player we were throwing to a space and letting the player run to it,” Morrell stated. ‘That’s a real maturity mark for them because that is what they struggled with at Liberty Bell.
“Where our throw-ins were a liability at Liberty Bell, now they are an asset and we can use them to gain yards. They have done a great job of adapting to what we found at Liberty Bell and turning those weaknesses into strengths.”
The Jr. Lady Cyclones will be back in action on Tuesday, September 8, 2020, when they will host a rematch with Liberty Bell at Citizens Bank Stadium with the opening kickoff at 6 pm.

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