| Tenacious Lady Chargers capture district crown |
By: Stephanie Sturgis - Press Sports Editor
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Posted: Tuesday, October 28, 2008 3:45 pm
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Three in a row — For the third consecutive season, the Westview Lady Chargers have earned the championship of the District 14 A-AA Tournament. This season, the Lady Chargers managed the feat with a 2-0 win over top seeded Dyersburg.
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A physical effort by the Westview Lady Chargers helped to frustrate and defeat the Dyersburg Lady Trojans, 2-0, in the District 14 A-AA Tournament championship game Saturday afternoon at the MTD Soccer Complex in Martin.
"Our physicalness and our improvement from the first time we played them proved who was the better team today," Westview head coach Stan Vickers said after his tenacious squad captured its third consecutive district tournament title.
The win allows Westview to host its Region 7 A-AA semifinal game. The Lady Chargers will entertain the University School of Jackson Lady Bruins at 6 on Tuesday night.
Vickers is hoping for another big turnout by WHS fans, who were a vocal presence on Saturday.
"Our crowd was fantastic. We wanted huge support and we got it," he said.
Two second half goals broke a scoreless halftime tie.
When the contest, which was postponed from Thursday night due to rain, got under way the Lady Chargers maintained the early offensive push.
Dyersburg countered after the initial surge and held a presence in the Westview defensive end, however, freshman Caitlyn Campbell repeatedly swept the ball away to end Lady Trojans rushes toward the goal.
Her effort combined with the work of Nada Hussein, Nicole Drake, Laura Gullett and goalkeeper Macy Vincent helped keep the game scoreless.
"They did an excellent job as they have the entire season," the Westview coach noted.
Vincent set the tone with a diving save to her right in the game's first 10 minutes.
The Lady Chargers also caught a break just before halftime when a DHS blast ricocheted off the crossbar to keep the game scoreless.
Westview didn't take long to take the lead once the second half started. Just two minutes into the action, Melissa Johnson fed a pass to the left edge of the box where Amanda Crowe fired a shot toward the opposite post. The Dyersburg keeper thought the ball was headed wide and out of bounds and let it fly by her. Instead, Crowe's kick found the back of the net just inside the right post for a 1-0 WHS lead.
"We did a fantastic job of putting pressure on them. We came out and moved the ball immediately," Vickers said. "That was a great shot. She's got one of the best shots on our team. That's just the way we teach them — to go for the opposite corner."
Four minutes in, the Lady Trojans tried to quickly flip the field. WHS stepped up during the pass hoping for an offside. The player was ruled onside and Vincent had to range far out of the goal to clear the ball away.
Westview got an insurance goal with 12:30 left in the contest. Evelyn Daniel brought the ball down the left side and fed a pass to Melissa Johnson. Johnson dribbled through traffic and fired a shot that bounced under the keeper's outstretched arm and into the net setting off a huge celebration by the fans of the Blue and Gold. |
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