Fillies put up a dozen in blanking Lady Colonials
Laurel Highlands scored early and often to take control of Monday’s Section 1-AAA girls soccer game against Albert Gallatin on the way to a 12-0 win. The host Fillies scored the first four goals in a span of 2:52 to take control of the game to pave the way for their first section win.
Anna Pirl and Erika Gesso scored goals at 4:30 and 6:42 as each began a personal hat trick. Pirl had her third goal when she scored twice in a 21-second span to build the 4-0 lead.
Cassie Martin scored near the midway point of the half. Elli Monaghan added a goal one minute later and Jordan Brewer’s late goal gave Laurel Highlands (1-5, 2-9) a 7-0 lead after 40 minutes.
Gesso scored twice at 6:28 and 7:15 of the second half to complete her hat trick, while Melissa McCann, Martin and Valen Lilley added goals for the 12-0 win. Monaghan also had assists on corner kicks that set up the goals by Brewer and McCann.
Albert Gallatin (0-6, 0-8) had just two direct shots on goal, while several other chances went wide or through the goal box.
The visiting Lady Colonials got their first shot with 17:13 left in the first half when Lindsey McLaughlin got a direct shot on LH goalkeeper Samantha Mozden.
AG missed another chance when none of the Lady Colonials could find Lucy Hlatky’s throw in to the scoring box area. Hlatky was also wide on a scoring chance late in the half.
Shelby Spellman, Liz Hoadley and Jackie Fyock made quality defensive stops on Lilley, Pearl, and Gesso in the first half, while goalkeeper Emily Dillon made 11 saves in each half.
Laurel Highlands coach Jessica DuBois was glad to see her team come out of its scoring slump after instructing them not to take AG lightly. “I told them to come out and play like I know they can,” DuBois said.
“We’ve been kind of down and out of late and it was nice to see us capitalize on our opportunities. Hopefully it will continue. In the second half, we focused on passing and working the ball around.”
Albert Gallatin coach Rick Hansen said his team was in a hole too quickly “right off the bat. But my kids will play hard every game. We’re working on getting our skills up. We aren’t getting down. Our spirits are high, and our numbers are up from last year and the year before.”