Posted: Tuesday, September 16, 2008 2:34 pm
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Westview (3-1) was coming off its first loss of the season, a 5-4 defeat at the hands of the Dyersburg Lady Trojans on Tuesday. Due to poor defensive commuication in that loss, the Lady Chargers contributed two own goals to the DHS totals.
It appeared the trend had carried over into the match with Peabody when the Lady Chargers allowed the Lady Tide's biggest offensive weapon — LaQuita Luten — to score and assist on two goals in the first 23 minutes of action. On the first Tide goal, Luten raced right down the middle of the field unchecked and fired a hard high shot off WHS keeper Macy Vincent's fingertips just under the crossbar and into the net.
However, the Lady Charger defenders regrouped and swept nearly every Peabody rush aside, leaving little work for Vincent in front of the Westview goal.
"We had a few breakdowns early. Those were communication breakdowns similar to the Dyersburg game. We played a lot better though in the second half," Westview head coach Stan Vickers said.
Despite the Tide goals, West-view still held the lead at the half thanks to great passing and spacing in the first 40 minutes.
The Lady Chargers nabbed a 1-0 lead when freshman Caitlin Campbell fired a hard shot from the left side over PHS keeper Amanda Holt seven-and-a-half minutes into the action.
Peabody needed less than four minutes to knot the score at 1-all when Luten scored on her breakaway.
Westview kept applying the pressure and it paid off when Melissa Johnson let loose a low, hard shot from the left side. The Tide keeper made the save but couldn't control the shot. On the deflection, sophomore Shaylon Robb was rushing in and banged the rebound past the diving keeper for a 2-1 lead with just under 22 minutes left in the half.
Again, the Tide needed less that four minutes for a response. This time, Luten sent a low pass across the mouth of the goal that Samantha Slayton blasted into the net from four yards out for a 2-2 score.
From that point, the Lady Charger defenders and midfielders kept Peabody in check.
A Tide tackle resulted in a Westview direct kick with 13 minutes to play in the half. The kick was deflected back out to the top of the box where Jennifer Johnson put a foot on it and fired a laser that just grazed the under side of the cross bar and bounced down just inside the line for a Lady Charger goal and a 3-2 advantage which stood at the halftime break.
In the second half, Westview had several chances in close but couldn't get a solid shot attempt. Holt also made some nice saves for Peabody.
With just under 27 minutes remaining in the contest, heavy WHS pressure resulted in a corner kick. Jennifer Johnson sent the ball in from the corner and Holt deflected it into a group of Lady Chargers. In traffic and near the goal line, Robb got a knee on the ball to nudge it in for a 4-2 Westview lead.
The final goal of the game came with 4:26 to play when Jennifer Johnson added her second goal of the contest on a long shot that just slipped inside the left post for a 5-2 final score.
"We passed the ball well. We did a good job of getting to open spots and waiting for the ball to get there," Vickers said.
Westview took 54 shots and Vincent had 16 saves in the win over Peabody.
Against Dyersburg, the Lady Chargers had their chances to force an overtime despite giving up the two own goals.
With about 10 seconds left in regulation, Amanda Crowe fired a shot that hit the crossbar and caromed directly down in front of the net. Before teammate Melissa Johnson could react and boot in the tying goal, a Dyersburg defender flicked the ball away to preserve the Lady Trojans' 5-4 win.
Dyersburg built a 2-0 lead on own goals before Lady Trojan Marci Coleman scored on a breakaway for a 3-0 lead.
Melissa Johnson provided the lone Westview goal in the first half as DHS led 3-1 at the intermission.
In the second half, the teams swapped goals before the thrilling finish. Melissa Johnson added two more scores and Campbell, a freshman, had the other Lady Charger score.
"In the second half, Westview played its game. It was very physical. We matched them goal for goal, but we just couldn't put in that last one," the WHS coach noted.
Westview will next head south to visit the University School of Jackson Lady Bruins at 6 on Tuesday night before visiting Dyersburg for a rematch on Thursday.