By STEVE CORNELIUS, CJ Sports Editor
Somerset — Being physical and controlling the middle of the field can make a difference in a soccer game. And it did make a difference for Southwestern, as the Lady Warriors downed Pulaski 5-1 on Thursday night at the Plains.
Having the program’s all-time leading scorer on your team can also make a difference in a game. And it did for Southwestern, as Devin Fothergill scored a hat trick in the Lady Warriors’ district cross-town win.
Southwestern put the pressure on Pulaski early and often, as the Lady Warriors took eight shots at goal in the first 13 minutes of the contest to outshoot the Lady Maroons 17 to 3 in the first half alone — 33 to 5 for the game.
“I was really happy with our first 15 minutes of play, and we really came out on fire,” Southwestern coach Matt Cook said. “We hadn’t played well at home, we hadn’t played well in the district and it was good to get out here and play pretty well in spots. We had some periods were we didn’t play as good, but we really created a lot of chances early in the game and that set the tone.”
During that stretch, Pulaski’s Natalie Pitman had a 22-yard free kick attempt in the second minute of the game.
However, the first score came of a Lady Warrior penalty kick in the 16th minute. Southwestern’s Sharita Liner passed off to Jordyn Daws, who was tripped from behind by a Pulaski defender in the box to set up the penalty kick.
“The game was pretty physical and I didn’t think that penalty kick was anymore than what we were seeing elsewhere on the field,” Pulaski coach Brian Elliott said, “but the refs call them as they see it — I am not going to argue the call and it’s not like I am going to chance the call.”
Devin Fothergill, who took the penalty kick, send a low roller into the right side of the net for the first score of the night. Devin Fothergill got four more unsuccessful scoring opportunities in the next four minutes as one shot hit the top crossbar, one went wide and two more were saved by Pulaski keeper Keelin Cunningham.
“I felt like after the first 15 minutes we did a fairly descent job in the middle of the field,” Elliott said. “Most of Southwestern’s scores came from the outside crosses and we had some problems will their fullbacks in the first half, especially.”
Pulaski finally got some offense going in the 23rd minute of the game off a 13-yard attempt by Jasmine Strunk that was saved by Southwestern keeper Chelsea Albright. Four minutes later, Jordan Richardson had s 6-yard attempt foiled by Epperson.
However, Southwestern made an offensive surge to close out the half to net them two more goals and giving the Lady Warriors a 3-0 halftime lead.
In the 30th minute, Danay Fothergill scored off a 12-yard bender off an assist from Liner. Four minutes later, Kim Smart sent the ball deep in the box, pulling out Pulaski keeper Cunningham and leaving Devin Fothergill with a open score at goal.
“It’s no secret — people are going to double Devin (Fothergill), she is always going to get the other team’s best defender and they are always going to be all over her,” Cook said. “And when that happens our midfielders have got to help out and they really did a good job of that tonight.”
Pulaski showed their strongest offensive efforts in the early part of the second half with several transition run-outs. At the 54-minute mark Pulaski’s Taylor Mounce passed to Jordan Richardson, who was positioned at the top of the penalty box. Richardson made a sliding stab at the ball from 20 yards out to find the right corner of the goal for the Lady Maroons’ one and only score.
While Pulaski desperately tried to put up a comeback bid, the Fothergill sisters responded with the ‘1-2’ knockout punch. In the 61st minute, Danay Fothergill took a long lobbing shot from 35 yards out that fell short of the goal, thus turning into an assist for sister Devin Fothergill, who scored at goal to put Southwestern up 4-1.
Danay Fothergill picked up another assist late in the game off a corner kick. In the 71st minute, Danay Fothergill lobbed in a corner kick to set up Jordyn Daws for the score at goal in heavy traffic to give Southwestern their 5-1 win.
“All in all, I am not displeased with the way we played, but for the most part we had some opportunities wasted,” Elliott said. “It’s a tough loss and we think we are better than that. But if we play (Southwestern) again, we will see what happens and I think we can play them better than we did tonight.”
Pulaski (6-9, 0-3) will host Corbin today at 2:30 p.m., while Southwestern (8-4-2, 2-0-1) will host McCreary Central on Tuesday, Sept. 30.
