ELIZABETHTOWN – Junior Mya McDonald and senior Katie Evans fired in 3 goals each to record ‘Hat Tricks’ and lead East Bladen to a 6-3 victory over South Columbus Wednesday in the Lady Eagles non-conference girls soccer season opener.
McDonald opened the scoring with a goal in the game’s 2nd minute. Two minutes later an Evans shot found the back of the net for a 2-0 lead. Three minutes later Evans knocked in another goal for a 3-0 lead. McDonald drilled in her 2nd goal in the 28th minute to push the halftime lead to 4-0.
“Mya and Katie had terrific nights,” said East Bladen Coach Jay Raynor. “Katie worked hard in the midfield for 80 minutes. She took a beating but never quit. Mya is so much fun to watch. She did whatever she wanted and had to beat multiple layers of defenders every time she was on the ball.”
South Columbus cracked the scoring column 4 minutes into the 2nd half, but McDonald answered with a goal that completed her ‘Hat Trick’ and padded the East lead to 5-1 in the 52nd minute.
The Lady Stallions scored 3 minutes later, but Evans blasted in a penalty kick to complete her ‘Hat Trick’ and up the count to 6-2 in the 67th minute. South Columbus scored their final goal 2 minutes later.
“The girls played a great game, stated Raynor. “It was nice to see them in a game. Everyone contributed and everyone got some minutes. I’m pleased with the way we started and how we played. Fitness was the biggest issue for us. The girls played hard and at times were really fun to watch. There is a lot of potential with this group.”
Raynor continued, “Cydney Campbell was up and down the line and provided us width coming out of the back. Acee Campbell did the same on the left side of the field for us. She brought a lot of physicality to the match. That gave Kenia (Medina) and Katie a little more room to work. Kenia is creative on the ball and really worked hard tonight. Sara Gargala won a lot of 50/50 balls in midfield. She made a lot of tackles to stop some attacks that were looking dangerous.”
“Merritt Martin did well and was able to clear the loose balls that got away from the midfield,” said Raynor. “Zoe Smith and Molly Evans started as freshman and were impressive. Those two have really been working in training and don’t back down.”
Raynor was pleased with the opener. “Great first game and so many things to build upon going forward. We have been rushed and haven’t had a lot of time together. There were many situations that we were put in that we haven’t gone over or trained. With that being said, the girls handled themselves well and they figured it out.”
“Our attack is strong but we need to clean things up defensively,” noted Raynor. “We gave up 3 goals and all 3 were self inflicted and could’ve been prevented. We will work on that and build on the successes that the ladies experienced today.”
“Reese Hester and Emma McDuffie were excellent for us as subs tonight,” Raynor concluded. “We have a long way to go and every girl showed me something. They gave me a lot to think about and we will keep tweaking things until we get the right people in the correct positions.”
The Lady Eagles will travel to East Columbus Monday for a 5 p.m. game.
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