Lola Antuna, right, of CCS kicks past Baylor's Avery Listen. The Lady Red Raiders bested CCS in 2-0 in the DII-AAA East Region matchup of the local rivals.
photo by M.A. Locke
Baylor’s Lady Red Raiders took home their first region win of the season against Chattanooga Christian School Lady Chargers in a Division II-AA East soccer showdown that ended 2-0. Baylor and CCS both only had one loss on the season coming into that game. The Lady Chargers would host the Lady Red Raiders with home field advantage. However, this was not enough to keep Baylor from dominating and taking another big win.
Head coach of Baylor, Curtis Blair had this to say after their road win, “It starts from up front.” Blair continued, “If we defend well up front, it makes the backs and goalkeepers feel much easier. Sara Hill in goal has done a great job for us. The back three between Hannah, Zoe, and Kat. They have just done a really good job. So far, we haven’t given up a goal through the run of play. Everything has been a penalty kick or set piece. We know so far through the run of play, we have done a good job of keeping things in front of us. They are not just good individuals but good team defending as well.”
Baylor has looked strong this season after coming off an intense schedule where they would play six teams in less than ten days. Despite having played these tough opponents, Baylor came out of it with only one loss. Then they headed straight into regionals against one of their hardest local opponents, CCS. Where most teams would struggle to get through, Baylor has been eating up the competition.
From the start of the match, The Lady Red Raiders seemed to have the Lady Chargers number. They were locked down on defense, holding a team that just came off an eight-goal win to zero points and limited chances. CCS didn’t make it easy for Baylor and made sure to keep them away from the goal as much as possible. While CCS would hold their ground for most of the first half, the Baylor attack was just too much. With only nine minutes remaining, Baylor would score. Kate Bennett found her breakaway chance and would easily put it over and past the keeper.
Quickly after the start of the second half, Baylor scored again. This time from Emily Betterton. Betterton had controlled possession and play for the entire game. She was swift and creative on the ball. This made her nearly impossible to catch. She found her shot in the box. The ball would bounce off the post and land back at her feet. With no hesitation she took the shot again and scored after taking a deflection off the defender. CCS would fight for the rest of the game, but found no luck in the final third and the game would end 2-0 in favor of the visitors. Betterton had this to say bout the win and the expectations for the season:
“Our coach is big on starting the half out strong to make the other team not get too comfortable,” Betterton said. “I think my team is really good at starting with high press. That’s what we did and It allowed me to get in there and take a shot. My team does a good job of running into the box and allowing me to trust them to take those wings and to make those chances for us. Our defense is pretty set. Every game they know how to lock down. Being able to trust them allows us to perform up top. It means a lot starting off the region 1-0. It feels really good and gives us a start to this region that definitely puts us up there. I’m hoping we can get that ring. I think we can if we keep working.”
Match Summary
Baylor 1 1 -- 2
CCS 0 0 -- 0
Goal Scorers:
Baylor- Kate Bennett, Emily Betterton.
(Contact Alex McElyea at alexmcelyea26@gmail.com)