Lady Trojans roll to 5-1 win

New Kent’s Lady Trojans had little difficulty in finding shots opportunities in the early going against Northumberland’s visiting Indians. Problem was, none found the goal.

But that began to change at the first half’s midpoint when the hosts’ Ashley Pierce broke the scoring ice. From there, the Lady Trojans rolled to a 5-1 victory last Thursday, upping their record to 3-3-1.

“We had trouble putting the ball in the goal, but Ashley scored and we started rolling after that,” said Lady Trojan coach Chad Honeycutt.

“That’s been a problem for us all season. We seem to have trouble finishing,” he said.

New Kent is 0-2-1 in Bay Rivers District play, but those games have been close. The losses were both by 2-1 counts against Lafayette and York while the tie was at Smithfield. In the two losses, his team had its chances to score and win, but couldn’t convert, Honeycutt said.

Against Northumberland, more of the finishing troubles emerged, even though the Lady Trojans were firmly in control from the outset. Then just short of the 20-minute mark, Anna Black launched a shot stopped by Indian keeper Jessica Boarman. Boarman, however, failed to smother the ball. The rebound bounced to Pierce who hammered in an easy shot to put the hosts up for good.

Black got an assist from an Indian defender on New Kent’s second goal. Her crossing pass bounced off the defender and into the net. Moments later, Abbie McIninch scored to up the advantage to 3-0.

Northumberland scored off a direct free kick to create a 3-1 halftime score, but McIninch and Pierce added second half goals to put the contest out of reach.

New Kent out-shot the Indians 16-6. Lady Trojan keeper Casey Spencer registered five saves.

“We should have another winning season and make it back to the district tournament,” Honeycutt said.