Lady Mustangs tie on Senior Night
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
DODSONVILLE — It was a night for celebrating the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustang seniors Thursday evening at Lynchburg-Clay High School.
Six LC seniors, along with the senior players from visiting Williamsburg, were honored in a halftime ceremony in which coach Dennis West spoke about his six senior players.
Those seniors included Meredith Fittro, Shelbi Halverson, Katie Mahoney, Lisa Rhonemus, Lindsey Rosselott and Breian West.
But the actual game didn't turn out as planned on the special night at LCHS, with the final score of the 80-minute game finishing tied at 0-0.
The tie was the first of the season for LC as they are currently 9-4-1 overall and 6-1 in the Southern Hills League, standing in second place after defeating Fayetteville 3-2 the night before.
The win against Fayetteville marked Chris Tipton and Dennis West's 100th career victory as co-coaches of the Lady Mustangs.
Against Fayetteville on Wednesday, LC held Fayetteville to six total shots at goal. Scoring for LC were Karen Hilt and Meredith Fittro. All three goals came in the first half as Fayetteville had an own goal.
"It seems like we didn't play the same kind of soccer like the game before against Fayetteville," Tipton said. "The last 20 minutes of this game we played like we did against Fayetteville, but we can't wait that long to get to that point."
One positive for LC against Williamsburg was their defense, who has been playing well as of late, posting a shutout against non-league foe Williamsburg, who are 4-5-4 overall this season.
"Our defense has been playing extremely well," Tipton said. "They seem to read each other well for the most part. They are very reliable and don't get the credit they deserve all the time."
Playing defense for LC Thursday were Erin Rowlands, Sarah Rosselott, Brandi Hunter, and Lisa Rhonemus. One usual defensive player, Alyssa Reynolds, missed Thursday's game due to an illness. Keeper for LC is Shelbi Halverson.
"Alyssa is usually a starter for us, and she is a big help for us," Tipton said.
Though neither team could get the ball into the back of the net, the game was still a physical one, with the intensity picking up in the final five minutes left on the clock.
In the first half, LC and Williamsburg split controlling the ball, but with 22:48 left in the opening half Halverson made what turned into a game-changing save.
LC came close on a couple occasions but just didn't quite convert the score. Taylor Scott almost had the first goal with just over 21 minutes left in the half. LC continued to pressure the defense of Williamsburg with another near goal at the 18-minute mark.
Each team almost scored again near the end of the first half with LC kicking the ball off the right post of the goal.
In the second half, the story was pretty much the same with each team missing golden opportunities to take the lead.
LC passed the ball with a chance to score with nearly 4:00 left in regulation, but Williamsburg keeper Mallory Guess, a freshman, had two big saves in the final minutes. She finished with 12 saves, eight in the second half.
LC had 20 shots at goal, while Williamsburg had nine.
But the game came back to the seniors on their night.
"Our seniors are a extremely good group of girls who have done a lot of good things," Tipton said.
The LC senior class has an overall record of 34-33-10 this far in four seasons. They have and will finish in the Top 3 in the SHL each year they have played for the Lady Mustangs. They have played in the sectional finals three times and in the districts twice.
"It's going to be hard to replace this group," Tipton said. "Shelbi has been our keeper for four years now."
Halverson had four saves against Williamsburg.
LC will play Peebles Monday and Zane Trace on Saturday.