Arnholt's two quick goals make a big difference in Lexington's win over Ashland
ASHLAND — Both coaches were in agreement that Makenna Arnholt’s two goals within three minutes of the first half were the deciding factor in Lexington’s 3-0 victory over Ashland in girls soccer action Thursday night.
Arnholt (20:56; 18:09) gave Lady Lex the lead and when Morgan Harrod made it a 3-0 advantage with 12:46 left in the first half, it was a huge hill for the Arrows to overcome.
“The 3-0 lead at halftime wasn’t something that we wanted to try and come back from,” said Ashland coach Lee Hunt. “It is really difficult to come back from three down. I did think we played much better in the second half. But they did play well against us in that first half."
Arnholt found the back of the net after a Lexington corner kick from the left side of the pitch for the 1-0 lead and she made it 2-0 on a semi-breakaway.
The senior forward said the trio of first-half goals were definitely a big factor.
“It was super big for us,” said Arnholt. “Just getting the momentum going and getting that third goal from Morgan was really big for us.”
Lexington coach Buck Morton said a 3-0 lead is a rare sight.
“I don’t remember us having a 3-0 lead at halftime,” he said. “It has been a long time, and it is not easy to do. Coming to Ashland has been a very tough game for us and obviously we have not done well. They are usually a very quality opponent, and they still are. I thought we relaxed a little too much in the second half in the early part, but we re-collected, and the girls did a great job.”
“That corner kick is what got me,” said Hunt. “It kind of went uncontested, but she dropped the ball in great and Lexington was on the back end of it and scored.”
Ashland tried in vain to get back into the contest in the early stages of the second half. A slight adjustment by Hunt led to a pair of scoring opportunities for Ashland, but neither hit the mark.
“Being down 1-0 is not that bad,” said Hunt. “It is not as big as a deal being down the one goal. The girls know how to fight back, and they did fight back extremely hard in the second half.”
“We didn’t come out with the same intensity for sure,” said Arnholt on the second half effort. “But I think about 10 minutes in we figured that out.”
Morton talked about the contributions of Arnholt.
“She is an outstanding athlete and a track girl for us,” he said. “Her and some other girls on the team qualified for state in the 4x200. She has great skills and when she gets opportunities lately she has been finishing. It has been fun to watch.
“She almost got a third one near the end of the half, but it just went over the top.”
Lexington out-shot Ashland, 15-8 and led in corner kicks, 4-3.
“I thought we controlled a lot of the second half,” said Hunt. “We showed a lot of good things in that half that we can take away from this game. We changed up our formation at halftime slightly and told the girls if we can get a quick one, we are right back in the game.
“We put the pressure on that first five minutes, but just couldn’t get one in the back of the net.”
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Girls Soccer: Lexington beats Ashland in OCC play
