After early NK surge, York pulls away

NK’s Ashley Pierce heads the ball in front of teammate Leigh Cargill and York’s Hanah Elford.

Alan Chamberlain photo

Seeking to raise their record above the .500 mark in Bay Rivers District soccer play, New Kent’s Lady Trojans came up just short on early chances to jump in front of York’s visiting Falcons.

And those early misses came back to haunt the hosts as the Falcons used a penalty shot to break a scoreless deadlock and added two more goals in quick succession to take control on the way to handing the Lady Trojans a 7-0 setback.

With the April 26 outcome, the hosts fell to 2-3 in Bay Rivers play and 6-4 overall.

The Lady Trojans surprised the highly touted Falcons at the outset. Moments into the match, Lilli Schrijber unleashed an open shot that sailed over the Falcon goal. A short time later, Ashley Pierce’s open shot landed in the hands of Falcon keeper Trinity Choice.

But 13 minutes into the contest, a pushing violation in the box set up York’s Jennifer Randolph for a penalty kick past Lady Trojan keeper Savanna Owens, and the Falcons never looked back.

“That penalty kick changed the whole momentum of the game,” said New Kent coach Kathy Anderson.

Over the next six minutes, the Falcons added a pair of goals. By halftime, the advantage stood at 4-0.

“But we played really well,” she said. “We’re playing tougher this year than we ever have, and I’ve seen tons of growth. They didn’t give up tonight.”