Published: October 16, 2009 08:53 am      

Lady Panthers win 6-0 over Loudon Lady Redskins

With the Loudon Lady Redskins in town, the cool damp weather didn't stop a hot SMHS Lady Panthers squad from finishing up the regular season in fine fashion with a 6-0 victory to finish the season with an 8-3-2 record.

The match started off with the Lady Panthers forcing the action and pushing the ball deep into the Loudon end.

"This was an excellent sign. During the season when the Lady Panthers have played agressive attacking soccer, they have played very well, and this evening would be no different," according to Coach Pam Carter-Bergvin.

The opening 10 minute segment saw the Lady Panthers get deep and threaten the Loudon goal on numerous occasion, being capped off by senior co-captian and starting center mid Chelsea Holder beating the Loudon keeper with a nice back post shot for a 1-0 advantage.

Aggressive play by Holder and the other starters in the mid-field group (sophomores Patti Jordan, Patricia Evan, and Kalie Pierce) dominated most of the next segment of the match. They were able to get to most of the loose balls in the midfield and work together or with the forwards (junior Rebecca Gonzales and freshman Brandee Kinder) to keep the ball deep in the the last third of the field.

When you keep pushing the action and trap the other team deep, then eventually good things happen.

In the 20th minute, Gonazales was able to make a strong run down the right side of the field, beat the last two defenders and knock one into the back of the net, giving SMHS a nice 2-0 lead.

Over the next several minutes, Loudon would try mightily to get the ball back into the SMHS end, but the Lady Panther defense was having none of it.

Sophomore stopper Meagan McCoy, freshman Kelsey VanNatter, senior Ashley Sherrill and senior co-captian Kat Thompson pushed up hard to trap the Lady Redskins and keep the pressure on.

Sooner or later pressure takes its toll, and in the 25th minute, Jordan made a beautiful crossing pass that Gonzales took and blasted past the keeper for her second goal and a 3-0 SMHS lead.

SMHS was able to steal the ball off the kickoff and push it back into the Loudon end. Good passing allowed the Lady Panthers to keep possession. With 13 minutes left, that led to a deep run by Evans who nailed one high back post for a 4-0 lead.

More strong play kept the pressure on Loudon. With nine minutes left in the first half, a Holder cross in the box found Evans in perfect position for the shot. The first try was blocked, as was the second, but Evans' persistence would be pay off as her third blast found the back of the net, giving her two on the evening, resulting in a 5-0 SMHS lead.

Loudon would threaten in the closing minutes of the half, but senior co-captain and keeper Whitley Sherrill was up to the challenge stopping their best opportunity of the half and protecting the lead as the first half whistle was blown.

It was a very good half, seeing all of the starters play well and getting good bench play to keep everyone fresh. Freshmen Alley Shultz and Kaitlyn Dolonich; sophomores Courtney Brady and Cassie Braunsdorf, along with senior forward Brittany Wilson, all came in and played very well, giving strong minutes that helped to keep everyone fresh, and allowed the ladies to keep pushing the action.

To start the second half, the ladies picked up right where they left off, pushing the ball deep and getting numerous scoring opportunies.

Loudon changed up their lineup putting in extra defender back, which clogged up the box and kept SMHS out of the goal for most of the second half.

They were also able to mount a more effective offense, pushing the ball into the SMHS end. Continually, Thompson made plays to clear the ball, and allowed the Lady Panthers to counter attack.

Gonzales and Kinder made excellent runs, and showed greatly improved passing, setting up each other and the midfield group for shot after shot. Credit the Loudon keeper with strong play to deny each attempt and hold the line at 5-0.

With about 12 minutes left, Coach Geir Bergvin subbed Kinder for senior keeper Whitley Sherrill, who moved Sherrill to forward. She made several good runs, but was unable to complete them until receiving a perfect pass from Holder. With 5:28 left on the clock, she was able to bang a shot near the post to put the ladies up 6-0.

Over the last few minutes of the match the ball was pushed from end to end, but neither team would really threaten.

The win puts the Lady Panthers season record at 8-3-2 a school record for wins. The win also places the Lady Panthers in third place for the district regular season, and means SMHS will be playing the first home district tournament game in the Lady Panthers' history. This will be a rematch with Loudon, on Monday, Oct. 19, at 6 p.m. CDT.