The Sunday afternoon battle between 17th-ranked Lee and 4th-ranked West Florida at the UWF Soccer Complex was far from being a disappointment. Over the years the two NCAA DII women’s soccer powers have met 10 times. After the Lady Flames walked away with the hard-fought 2-1 victory the series is now squared at 4-4-2.
Last season the Argonauts knocked Lee out of the national tournament and Sunday’s win by the Lady Flames will go down as an important mid-season triumph.
The victory over previously undefeated West Florida improved Lee’s unbeaten mark to 7-0-3 overall and more importantly 5-0-1 in GSC play. The Argonauts dropped to 7-1-1, 4-1-0.
The defensive struggle under heated conditions in the Florida panhandle was something to watch from start to finish. The Lady Flames’ overall effort was led by Ashley Eulo, Juliana Lopes, Katie Wilson, Avery Sides, Kate Dirkse and Jordan Blair.
Lee jumped on top in the seventh minute on a goal by Alaysia Nye. It was her team-leading seventh goal of the year. The assist came from Grace Berry, and it was her third assist of the season. West Florida knotted the score in the 20th minute on Mya Swinton’s unassisted goal.
Ruth Edrington had the huge shot of the day and the game winner in the 70th minute. The unassisted goal came from 15 yards out and sailed high into the right-side corner of the net. It was the senior’s first goal of the year. She came off the bench and gave the Lady Flames 42 minutes of playing time.
The first half ended with the Lady Flames only getting two shots and the Argonauts putting up nine. Lee keeper Abby Whitcomb registered two saves in the period. Things turned around somewhat in the second half when Lee was able to fire five shots and finished the day with seven total shots. On the other hand, the Argonauts tallied seven shots in the same period and finished with a total of 16 for the match.
Whitcomb finished the contest with three saves for Lee and Maciah Lipsey had three for West Florida. The Argonauts had a commanding edge in corner kicks, 12-2, but again the Lee defense stood strong. In the rugged match 29 fouls were called, 19 against Lee and 10 against West Florida. Two yellow cards were issued, one against each side.
Friday night at 7:30 p.m. will be Kickin It For Kids With Cancer when the Lady Flames host Shorter University in the annual contest that raises funds for the Austin Hatcher Foundation which supports families who suffer from pediatric cancer.
Coach Chris Hennessey’s thoughts:
“We competed and defended very well today. I’m really proud of our girls and we came away with two huge wins after a very long weekend. We needed to put it all together and we got the result today.
“I can’t say enough. It was just a gutsy performance. We matched them in almost every way. We told our girls at halftime to dig down. It was very hot but I knew we could get the job done. Ruthie (Edrington) scored a great goal for us. Abby (Whitcomb) had a big save in the second half that helped us secure the win. I have a very good feeling about this team.
“We will come home, get some rest and get ready for Shorter next weekend. It will be nice playing at home for three straight games before going on the road again.”