Waynesburg girls defeat Uniontown for first win of season
WAYNESBURG — After dropping two games at the South Fayette tournament over the weekend, the Waynesburg Central girls soccer team collected their first win of the 2013 campaign with a 6-1 triumph over Uniontown in the Section 1-AA opener.
“I liked what I saw on the field tonight,” Waynesburg coach Joe Kijowski said. “We were against some tough competition over the weekend (Belle Vernon and Springdale) and it was very hot. Tonight, it was obviously a lot cooler and we played our style from the get-go. We started to possess the ball and made a lot of quality passes in the second half.”
The Lady Raiders (1-2, 1-0) controlled the offensive tempo of the game and was in the attacking zone much of the contest, outshooting Uniontown (1-2, 0-1) by a 31-8 margin.
Uniontown, who split their two games at the Fayette County Tournament over the weekend, was out of sync early on and couldn’t get a flow on offense.
Waynesburg had three quality scoring chances in the opening minutes of the contest, but the Uniontown defense and goalie Leighlyn Guthrie was up to the task.
The Lady Raiders finally cracked the scoreboard at the 16:57 mark of the first half when Sarah Snee tallied a goal.
About a minute and 15 seconds later, Lilly Behm corralled the ball around the net and was able to put one in to give the home team a two-goal advantage.
Snee sneaked behind Guthrie at the 11:03 mark and was able to register her second goal of the game for Waynesburg. The Lady Raiders held a 3-0 edge at intermission.
“We have a lot of speed on the outside,” Kijowski said. “We need to be aggressive and fast because it’s a physical game and we are in a physical section. We have to continue to crash the net and get those dirty goals.”
In the second half, Waynesburg added three insurance goals by Casey Swartz (35:52), Sophie Benco (27:02) and Nicole Vennick (18:30).
Uniontown avoided the shutout when Amy Berkebile got behind the defense and connected on a shot with 1:43 left in the second half.
“We are a young team and we still have to continue to work together,” Uniontown coach Greg Peck said. “We have to be a little bit faster on defense and work as a team to clear the ball. We are going to go through our fair share of growing pains, but I like the effort and determination.”
Despite not seeing a lot of action in the game, Lady Raiders’ netminder Josey Evans was strong and decisive in the net with four saves.
“Our defense was strong and I liked the way Josey played,” Kijowski said. “Despite giving up some goals over the weekend, I thought she had some outstanding saves and kept her composure throughout the game. This is her first go around with starting on the varsity level, and she has really answered the bell for us.”
Guthrie was tagged with the loss, despite recording 17 stops for Uniontown.