Miami Trace’s Karleigh Cooper looks to attack during the first half of the match against Washington on Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. Pictured on defense for Washington is Lucy Campbell.
Tyler Flora | Record-Herald
Lady Panther Isabelle DeBruin possesses the ball during the second half of the match against Washington on Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. Pictured for the Lady Lions is Lydia Mootispaw.
Tyler Flora | Record-Herald
It’s been said that in the realm of athletics, it is no easy task to beat a team three times in one season. On Monday evening, the No. 7 seed Miami Trace Lady Panthers were faced with that obstacle as they hosted the No. 10 seed Washington Lady Lions in the first round of the DIII Southeast District girls soccer tournament.
In the first two contests between the two county rivals this season, Miami Trace won 6-0 and 7-0. The third match would see a similar fate as the Lady Panthers shut out the Lady Lions by a score of 4-0.
Miami Trace got on the board at the 36:27 mark of the first half on a goal from Karleigh Cooper, with the assist coming from Marian Mara.
At the 30:52 mark, Nora Morrison took a shot on goal that was deflected by a Lady Lion defender and went right to Mara, who took a shot and found the back of the net to make it 2-0 which was the halftime score.
At the 35:15 mark of the second half, Hannah Houck took a shot on goal that was deflected by the Washington goalkeeper and then knocked in by Elyse Day to make it 3-0.
The final goal of the evening came at the 19:57 mark on a goal from Morrison. This made it 4-0 which was the final.
Statistically, Cooper led in shots on goal with 10, followed by Mara and Morrison each with seven, Day, Hailey Webster, Houck and Madison Cory each with two, and Emma Hoppes and Kaytlyn Burns each with one.
Webster, Morrison and Houck each had two assists and Mara had one.
Miami Trace head coach Chad Tolbert spoke following the victory.
“We came out well with what we wanted to do, especially based off of it being our third time playing them. We were doing well and we kind of just got away from it. We got better in the second half, and throughout the second half we were trying to get in as many girls as possible that maybe don’t play as much.
“To beat them three times in one season and shut them out all three times, I’ll take that. And on top of that, this one was a tournament win.
“We had wet field conditions tonight, that did affect us tonight because the ball just kind of skips.
Miami Trace (11-6-1) will now turn their attention towards a match against the No. 2 seed Athens Bulldogs (8-5-3) on Wednesday evening at Athens High School.
“It’s not going to be easy. They are the two seed for a reason. We have watched several of their games on film. It will be a battle, and we’ll see what happens.
