Lady Jackets dominate in battle of first-place teams
Apr. 12—On paper, this looked like one of the marquee matchups of the day in NCHSAA women's soccer.
One day after winning its county rivalry game against Southern Lee, Lee County's Lady Jackets hit the road for a reunion with former conference rival Triton. The Hawks are currently tied for the lead in the All-American 3A/4A Conference, while Lee holds the outright lead in the Sandhills 3A/4A. Triton entered with a 10-1 record, while the Lady Jackets were seeking to extend their winning streak to 10 matches.
It said on these pages a day ago that Lee County was one of the hottest teams in the state. Triton likely will not argue after this showdown of first-place teams ended in an 11-2 rout for the Lady Jackets in a mere 60 minutes of play.
Lee (12-2 overall) needed just 18 seconds to score its first goal. The Hawks had a defensive mixup and Gillian Garrison hit a long shot into an open net after the Triton keeper was forced to leave the goal area in an attempt to clear a free ball. The Hawks (10-2) counterattacked after the goal and nearly tied a minute later, putting a shot off the left post at the other end, but the Lady Jackets would have no more lapses until it was too late for the home team.
Garrison scored her second goal in the fifth minute, finishing in close after a pass from Abigail Gaddy-Harrison. A minute and a half later, the score was 3-0 after Lily Currin scored from 10 yards out right in front of the goal.
It took just 24 seconds more to reach 4-0, after Lee took possession on the ensuing kickoff and Layton Griffin sent a through ball ahead to Garrison, who made a free run down the field and got her hat trick by the early part of the seventh minute of play.
She added her fourth goal in the 10th minute, again making a free run down the field and beating the keeper one-on-one.
In minute 15, Garrison got her fifth goal and Lee got its sixth, this one coming after a corner kick taken by Ava Baldwin. Garrison met the ball and headed it into the goal.
Triton got on the board in minute 16, but Garrison scored again exactly 25 seconds later, her sixth of the game, early in the 17th minute to make the score 7-1.
The Hawks couldn't defend the Lady Jackets at all, but the home team did prove to have skilled forwards, and it took a last-second run from Addy Allen to clear a ball right in front of the net in the 20th minute. Triton kept the ball in the Lee end for a few minutes after that but failed to score. In the 23rd minute, the Lady Jackets regained control and Garrison scored yet again, this time off a pass from Ganesa Newby in close to push the lead to 8-1.
The Hawks scored again in the 28th minute, but that was all they were able to do. The rest of the contest was just an exercise in how long they could prevent Lee from reaching a nine-goal lead and ending the match early.
After her seventh goal, Garrison stopped tormenting the Hawks, but Lee did add three more goals. Lila Moshfegh scored two and Gracie Currin had one. The match was called due to the mercy rule midway through the second half. Two assists each were credited to Newby, Gaddy-Harrison, Ava Baldwin, and Griffin. Allen and Currin each had one.
The Hawks had allowed just five goals in 11 matches this season before allowing 11 to the Lady Jackets in just an hour of play.
Diana Ponce made three saves in goal for Lee County.
Triton's two goals were scored by Emma Stanley and Madelyn Hair, with Daniela Vasquez Cristobal credited with one assist.
Lee County, which is 5-0 in SAC play, will host Union Pines (7-3-1, 4-1 SAC) in an important conference match tonight at 6 p.m. UP's lone conference loss was 3-1 to the Lady Jackets back on March 12.
