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MA girls improve in losses  | Photo by Barry Burleson
Scoring
MA’s
Lauralee Fant (left) gets the ball past the Magnolia Heights goalie
Monday of last week for the Lady Pats’ first score of the season. |
The Marshall Academy soccer team dropped a pair of close games last week. MA fell 3-1 at home to Magnolia Heights and 5-1 in Cleveland versus Bayou. The Lady Chiefs scored all of their goals in the first 20 minutes August 9. “We gave up two early goals on two critical mistakes on defense, and the other was on a goal kick,” coach Lance McGregor said. “Then
for the last 60 minutes of the game, we were a completely different
team. We took the game to them and really showed a lot of promise. We
had multiple opportunities and just missed so many of them.” MA had 14 shots on goal compared to 10 for Magnolia Heights. Lauralee
Fant scored the Lady Pats’ first goal of the season after “being robbed
on multiple occasions earlier in the contest,” Coach McGregor said. “I
felt we controlled the midfield and that is where most games are won or
lost; just so happens we were a little unlucky today,” he said. “Also,
our passes were much better and the offense did a swell job of
communicating and working together to set up scoring opportunities.” He praised the improvement of Danielle Stanley at goalie, plus the strong play of Fant and Emma Elgin. Once again, Coach McGregor said, “the first 15 minutes were our undoing” in a loss to Bayou August 10. The Lady Colts scored three times early. “They really capitalized with their speed,” McGregor said. “They outplayed us for the beginning part of the game. “For
the next 55 minutes we held them in check and really limited their
opportunities. They scored five goals but only had eight shots on goal,
so that shows our defense is improving.” Fant scored MA’s goal on a breakaway in the second half. “Every time she touches the ball, she is a threat,” he said.  | Photo by Barry Burleson
Passing
M.C. Hutchens (left) of Marshall moves the ball to a teammate. |
He said M.C. Hutchens did a great job on the wing and really created some opportunities by beating her defender. “I thought all of the girls played as hard as they could but you could tell that the Delta heat wore them down,” McGregor said. “The toughest part of the game is the fact that they controlled the midfield on us and really set the tone. “We have to work to improve that and get more support on the attacking end.” The
Marshall girls hosted Bayou Monday and then visited Manchester Tuesday.
Next Monday, Aug. 23, they host River Oaks (La.) at 4 p.m., and next
Tuesday, Aug. 24, they go to Immanuel for a 7 p.m. contest. |
