Sep 17, 2009 3 min read

WAYNESBURG – The Waynesburg Central Lady Raiders picked up their first win of the season, beating the visiting Laurel Highlands Fillies 6-0 in Section 6-AAA action Wednesday night. “We are still a young team and are still trying to get our feet wet,” Waynesburg coach Herb Thompson said. “I think we rely on emotions early, and that’s why we had a fast start to the game. When you put the ball in the back of the net first, it usually builds up confidence, and we as a team feel more comfortable in the game.”

“Our senior leadership picked us up in tonight. We came out in tonight’s game with a little more pep in our step; it was a beautiful game for us.”

Waynesburg Central (1-4, 1-2) garnered its first victory of the 2009 campaign by utilizing its speed and aggressiveness early against Laurel Highlands (1-5, 0-3), which has dropped its fifth straight game.

The Raiders tallied the first goal at the 32:24 mark when freshmen forward Hallie Kreuzer ran past the defense and found the back of the net.

Senior captain Mary Burns added to the Waynesburg’s lead when she torched the ball past the Laurel Highland’s goalkeeper.

The Raiders controlled the pace of the game in the first half by outshooting the Fillies 13-2.

In the second half, the Fillies had the early momentum and outshot the Raiders 7-6, but were not able to get on the scoreboard due to excellent goalkeeping by freshmen Julia Camps who recorded six saves.

At the 31:17 mark of the second half, junior forward Niki Augustine tallied a goal to increase the Raiders’ lead.

With 17 minutes left in the contest, it was Taylor Augustine’s show as the senior captain scored three goals. Two of her goals were set up by perfect passes from the right hash mark by Burns.

“Theses girls are just unselfish,” Thompson said. “We made a lot of solid passes, and on at least four of our goals, the girl had the opportunity to shoot or pass, and they made a good decision, and we got some easy goals. This is just an unselfish bunch of kids.”

Freshmen Casey Lewis was in net for the Fillies and made seven stops.

“One of the key factors for us was that our first and second string goalies were out tonight,” Laurel Highlands coach Al Dubois said. “The young lady stepped in and had to play a position she hardly plays. She did try her best, but we just gave up too many goals. On offense, we did generate some scoring chances, but we just weren’t able to finish it.”

The Fillies travel to Southmoreland on Monday while the Raiders host East Fairmont (W.Va.) on Saturday in a non-section contest.

“We are going to approach the East Fairmont game as a conference game,” Thompson said.

“There is a little bit of bad blood between us because we have played each other the past four years, and last year they beat us on a penalty kick late in the game. The girls are already talking about them, and they are ready to compete on Saturday.”