Lady Titans avenge loss to Pearl
January 19, 2009 Ridgeland High School
The Lady Titans entered the contest at Pearl riding a three-game winning streak behind the Clarion-Ledger's Top Performer, forward Carmen Bofill, and the defense that had allowed 5A defending state champion Gulfport a single goal in last weekend's I10-I20 Shootout.
The first half would be dominated by the Pearl offense as shot after shot was sent on frame only to be denied by junior keeper CJ Winship and the crossbar. Winship would stop five shots, and her posts would stop four more before the break.
After the half, the Lady Titans woke up and began to possess the ball much better than in the first half. Center midfielders Rachel Harris, Madison Walker, Mary Ashton Lembo and Rhae'ven Ellis would begin to make steals and solid passes in the center.
At the 51:40 mark of the contest, junior fullback Allison Ayers would take a free kick from about 45 yards out. Her driving shot hit the crossbar and bounded almost straight up in the air. The rebound banked off the Pearl sweeper and into the goal for the only score of the match.
The goal only seemed to add fuel to the fire as the Lady Titans pressed the attack for the next 29 minutes. Winship finished with seven saves while Ridgeland itself sent seven shots on goal.
"This was definately a quality win," said Lady Titans coach Craig Winship. "I told the girls before the game that we were very capable of winning the match. I believe in this team down to a girl."
With early January injuries to starting midfielders Olivia Travis and and Morgan Webb, the Lady Titans were forced to use a different set of players in key roles. "Madison Walker and Kelly Jarvis, in particular, have contributed much needed minutes to the varsity in the past four games," added Winship. "Neither of these two players saw any action in the first meeting against Pearl, but they will be huge for us down the stretch. I am just glad that they kept a super attitude throughout the first half of the season and continued to work hard in practice so that I could use them with short notice. It is a testiment to their character." |
NATIONAL
MISSISSIPPI