Lady Trojans fail to register score against Grafton, fall 2-0 in soccer clash

New Kent senior Jewel Williams (9) makes an effort to get back on defense as Grafton's Mia Gaujardo (7) dribbles the ball down the field.

Robb Johnson photo

In most sports, especially in soccer, a team can play the best possible end and still wind up on the losing side of the contest. That was the case with New Kent’s Lady Trojans in an Apr. 26 contest against the invading Grafton Lady Clippers.

Despite superb goal-tending by New Kent’s Caroline Jones, a failure to register any reasonable shots on goal resulted in the hosts 2-0 downfall to Grafton.

The visitors’ defense kept the Lady Trojans out of striking distance for most of the night. And when New Kent did get a shot on the goal, Grafton goalkeeper Whitney Horton prevented the ball from the back of the net. Along with her punting to place the ball near midfield, the tactic prevented New Kent from denting the scoring column, frustrating New Kent head coach Steve Grech.

“I told the girls don’t let it bounce,” he said, pointing to the extra yardage the ball gained from hitting the ground. “With us not being able to get it above midfield like them, we were only getting 30 to 35 yards on punts. It gave them the advantage to keep it in their territory and really control this game.”

New Kent remained in the contest with Jones’ stops on shot attempts. However, her effort couldn’t prevent Grafton’s Kora Miline score from 20 yards out at the 19:32 mark of the second half to give the visitors the lead. Six minutes later, an error by Jones resulted in an own goal for the Lady Clippers to round out the scoring.

Grech remained adamant in his stance that his team had to improve in order to make an impact as regional competition approaches.

“We only had three to four attempts tonight [to score] and they were from 20 to 30 yards out,” he said. “We have to play better on offense.”

The Lady Trojans drop to 4-6 on the season.