White’s late goals lift New Kent to 3-1 triumph over Warhill

New Kent's Nae White (left) and Warhill's Alexis Belemu collide in a quest to take control of the ball. In the photo below, Lady Trojan Kristen Taylor drives the ball upfield, past Warhill's Courtney Darcy.

Alan Chamberlain photos

Taking advantage of a pair of late second half breakaway opportunities, Nae White put New Kent’s Lady Trojans ahead to stay and added breathing room to lift her team to a 3-1 soccer victory over Warhill’s invading Lions.

White’s scores, coupled with a defense that stymied the Lions after the visitors took a 1-0 lead early in the first half, upped New Kent’s record to 4-7. More importantly, however, Monday night’s outcome placed the hosts at 3-1 in conference play.

“This is a big win for the girls since it puts us in a good position within the division,” said Lady Trojan coach Steve Grech.

“It was a tough win,” he added. “The girls didn’t give up and fought to the end.”

Eleven minutes in, the Lions’ Taylor Waible launched a shot from just inside the left sideline. A strong crosswind caught the ball, hooking it high into an upper corner of the New Kent goal and over the head of keeper Lauren Barney.

“I told Barney that the wind favored [Warhill] and was going to do some things with the ball,” Grech said.

Barney took the advice to heart thereafter, shutting out the Lions the rest of the way and finishing with nine saves. But the Lady Trojan offense, despite owning an advantage in shot numbers, struggled to get anything past Lion keeper Shayla Nguyen.

“We were shooting right at their goalie, and I told the girls we had room and didn’t have to kill their keeper,” Grech said. “But I wasn’t concerned because I knew that with the pressure we were giving them we’d get some goals.”

New Kent evened the count with a little over a minute remaining in the first half, thanks to a Lion infraction that drove Taylor Clements to the turf just outside the box. Kristen Taylor’s direct free kick, aided by the wind, grazed Nguyen’s fingertips before settling into the net.

The 1-1 deadlock stood until under 14 minutes remained in regulation when White drove the ball deep into Lion territory, outracing defender Alexis Belemu and lofting a shot over Nguyen.

Ten minutes later and off a long pass from Payton Melvin, White again challenged Nguyen, this time rolling an insurance score past the keeper.