Karlie Tipton hat trick leads to LC win over Hillsboro
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
DODSONVILLE — As the season moves along, the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs and the Hillsboro Lady Indians have shown improvement from where they once were earlier in the season to where they are now. On Monday night, it was the Lady Mustangs who were left standing victorious, defeating the visiting Hillsboro squad by a 3-2 score.
There was a youth movement for the Lady Mustangs in the scoring column in the non-conference Highland County showdown with Hillsboro, as all three of their goals were scored by freshman Karlie Tipton for the hat trick.
“We played hard, and Hillsboro played hard. I told the girls before the game started that you can throw records out the window any time you are playing a county rival, and Hillsboro is a county rival,” LCHS head coach Dennis West said. “I told them, don’t look at the record and don’t expect anything but a hard, tough, well-fought game, and that is what we got 80 minutes of.
“I’m happy to finally see us play 80 minutes of fairly good soccer. That is one of the rarities of the season, but I thought we got some great play from kids off the bench and great play all the way around. I’m happy with the girls and the way things went tonight.”
West then spoke about how his team is improving from where they were last week.
“We are getting there. I know I was unhappy last week after our game with Western Brown,” he said. “We played fairly well against Wilmington (following the Western Brown game). It was a much better matchup there, especially in the second half.
“Tonight was an extension of that second half at Wilmington. It has been something that we’ve been working really hard to do and that is putting minutes and halves together, getting into a groove, and tonight I felt we were right there. We just kept playing, and we didn’t drop off.”
On the other side, it was junior Lexi Sheppard who scored two goals for the Lady Indians, with one in each half.
The first goal of the match came with 20:50 on the clock with Tipton scoring first for the 1-0 Lynchburg-Clay lead with the assist from Belle Brinkman. Less than 10 minutes later, at the 13:13 mark, Hillsboro’s Sheppard tied the score with a goal of her own for the 1-1 score.
There was one last goal to complete the first-half scoring as Tipton again pushed the Lady Mustangs to the lead for a 2-1 advantage as the goal was scored with 8:27 remaining in the first half, as that goal was assisted by Kaylee Lunsford.
In the second half, the Lady Indians tied things up with a goal very early in the second half, as the scoreboard at LCHS read 38:34 for a 2-2 score following a second goal from Sheppard.
“I’m extremely proud of the girls, and this was the best game they’ve had against Lynchburg-Clay in four years, especially at the varsity level,” HHS head coach Anthony Carson said. “The girls worked hard, and they played together. Like I said last week, I’m not happy with a loss, but we are trending in a way where last year we were hit and miss on everything, but this year we are going up.
“I’m looking forward to the next five games, and the next four are league games, and I want to see what we’ve got. One player who stood out tonight was Lexi Sheppard. She ran their back line and she had to hold that central position, and she stuck it out for us.”
The lead nearly went to the Lady Indians as a hard shot to the goal was stopped by the Lynchburg-Clay defense when Trinity Van Fleet made a timely defensive stop, taking away from HHS pressure by kicking the ball away from the LC net.
LCHS began to bring heavy pressure as the clock continued to near the end of the regulation, and with 2:54 left in the match it was Tipton who stepped up and scored a third goal for the hosts, this one putting LC ahead for good at 3-2. The goal was assisted by Raelynn Ruble.
“Karlie is a matchup monster for other teams,” West said. “She has good speed, and she’s restless. Karlie is still a work in progress, and I’m on her all the time, making sure she uses her right foot, because she’s left-foot dominant.
“She hits a ball hard all the time, sometimes when she shouldn’t, but she’s something else.”
LC missed a chance to convert a penalty kick with under 2:00 left in the match, and HHS had their chances at the end as they had the ball in the LC side of the field. HHS had a corner kick attempt, and being near the goal, the Lady Indians were unable to tie up the score as time expired.
At keeper in the first half was Serena Smith, who totaled four saves, and in the second half the keeper was Philemina Toca.
“The girls are functioning as a team instead of focusing on the ‘me’ attitude,” West said. “They are playing well, they are fighting for each other and they are staying disciplined when they are getting fouled. They are playing for each other and that is key, and they are doing that now.”
In the game last week against Wilmington, Lynchburg-Clay won by a 2-0 score with their goals coming from Lunsford with the assist by Ruble off a free kick. The second goal came in the second half when Tipton scored an unassisted goal.
Next for Lynchburg-Clay is a Southern Hills Athletic Conference game Wednesday, Sept. 25 at Peebles. Next for HHS is a home match Tuesday, Sept. 24 vs. Washington in a Frontier Athletic Conference showdown.
Hillsboro’s game on Tuesday is also their Kick Out Cancer game, which is through the Dragonfly Foundation.
There was a youth movement for the Lady Mustangs in the scoring column in the non-conference Highland County showdown with Hillsboro, as all three of their goals were scored by freshman Karlie Tipton for the hat trick.
“We played hard, and Hillsboro played hard. I told the girls before the game started that you can throw records out the window any time you are playing a county rival, and Hillsboro is a county rival,” LCHS head coach Dennis West said. “I told them, don’t look at the record and don’t expect anything but a hard, tough, well-fought game, and that is what we got 80 minutes of.
“I’m happy to finally see us play 80 minutes of fairly good soccer. That is one of the rarities of the season, but I thought we got some great play from kids off the bench and great play all the way around. I’m happy with the girls and the way things went tonight.”
West then spoke about how his team is improving from where they were last week.
“We are getting there. I know I was unhappy last week after our game with Western Brown,” he said. “We played fairly well against Wilmington (following the Western Brown game). It was a much better matchup there, especially in the second half.
“Tonight was an extension of that second half at Wilmington. It has been something that we’ve been working really hard to do and that is putting minutes and halves together, getting into a groove, and tonight I felt we were right there. We just kept playing, and we didn’t drop off.”
On the other side, it was junior Lexi Sheppard who scored two goals for the Lady Indians, with one in each half.
The first goal of the match came with 20:50 on the clock with Tipton scoring first for the 1-0 Lynchburg-Clay lead with the assist from Belle Brinkman. Less than 10 minutes later, at the 13:13 mark, Hillsboro’s Sheppard tied the score with a goal of her own for the 1-1 score.
There was one last goal to complete the first-half scoring as Tipton again pushed the Lady Mustangs to the lead for a 2-1 advantage as the goal was scored with 8:27 remaining in the first half, as that goal was assisted by Kaylee Lunsford.
In the second half, the Lady Indians tied things up with a goal very early in the second half, as the scoreboard at LCHS read 38:34 for a 2-2 score following a second goal from Sheppard.
“I’m extremely proud of the girls, and this was the best game they’ve had against Lynchburg-Clay in four years, especially at the varsity level,” HHS head coach Anthony Carson said. “The girls worked hard, and they played together. Like I said last week, I’m not happy with a loss, but we are trending in a way where last year we were hit and miss on everything, but this year we are going up.
“I’m looking forward to the next five games, and the next four are league games, and I want to see what we’ve got. One player who stood out tonight was Lexi Sheppard. She ran their back line and she had to hold that central position, and she stuck it out for us.”
The lead nearly went to the Lady Indians as a hard shot to the goal was stopped by the Lynchburg-Clay defense when Trinity Van Fleet made a timely defensive stop, taking away from HHS pressure by kicking the ball away from the LC net.
LCHS began to bring heavy pressure as the clock continued to near the end of the regulation, and with 2:54 left in the match it was Tipton who stepped up and scored a third goal for the hosts, this one putting LC ahead for good at 3-2. The goal was assisted by Raelynn Ruble.
“Karlie is a matchup monster for other teams,” West said. “She has good speed, and she’s restless. Karlie is still a work in progress, and I’m on her all the time, making sure she uses her right foot, because she’s left-foot dominant.
“She hits a ball hard all the time, sometimes when she shouldn’t, but she’s something else.”
LC missed a chance to convert a penalty kick with under 2:00 left in the match, and HHS had their chances at the end as they had the ball in the LC side of the field. HHS had a corner kick attempt, and being near the goal, the Lady Indians were unable to tie up the score as time expired.
At keeper in the first half was Serena Smith, who totaled four saves, and in the second half the keeper was Philemina Toca.
“The girls are functioning as a team instead of focusing on the ‘me’ attitude,” West said. “They are playing well, they are fighting for each other and they are staying disciplined when they are getting fouled. They are playing for each other and that is key, and they are doing that now.”
In the game last week against Wilmington, Lynchburg-Clay won by a 2-0 score with their goals coming from Lunsford with the assist by Ruble off a free kick. The second goal came in the second half when Tipton scored an unassisted goal.
Next for Lynchburg-Clay is a Southern Hills Athletic Conference game Wednesday, Sept. 25 at Peebles. Next for HHS is a home match Tuesday, Sept. 24 vs. Washington in a Frontier Athletic Conference showdown.
Hillsboro’s game on Tuesday is also their Kick Out Cancer game, which is through the Dragonfly Foundation.