JACKSON, Miss. - Scoring early is always a key in the game of soccer and Lee's No .2-ranked women's team scored early and often in Saturday afternoon's 6-0 romp over host Belhaven University.
Ode Fulutudilu got the Lady Flames out of the gates quickly on what coach Matt Yelton described as "a great goal." In only her second match of the season Christina Bovbjerg delivered the assist and the romp was on.
"All our girls played well and all six of our goals were quality shots," added Yelton, who had earlier expressed fear after the tough 1-0 win on Friday and playing an early match on Saturday. "We got an opportunity to play all 23 girls who made the trip."
Junior Charlotte Canlett, who has drawn praise from Yelton in recent games, tallied the second goal of the afternoon. Danielle Ciabattone got the third score. Fulutudilu was credited with assists on the second and third tallies.
Junior Debbie Rogers stepped up and garnered the fourth goal that was unassisted. Bovbjerg, a freshman from Denmark, registered her first career goal on an assist from Rogers and the final score of the day came off the foot of another freshman, Melin Niedermayer who hails from Wurzburg, Germany. Her goal was unassisted.
The Lady Flames had several scoring opportunities in the second 45 minutes but could not convert. Overall, they took 23 shots and 17 were on target. Belhaven was limited to only two shots on goal and keepers Leah Wilson and Elyse Cottrell each collected a save. Nicole Walsh had six saves for the losers.
"I've talked about our depth being a strong point all season and it showed today," said Yelton after his Lady Flames improved to 7-1 overall and 4-0 in the SSAC. "We played without a couple of our starters (Ashley Aragona and Chloe Woody) but the other girls stepped up. We did exactly what we needed to do on this important road trip."
Lee will continue its road adventures next Wednesday, traveling to Mount Vernon, Ga. to face Brewton-Parker College. The Lady Flames will return home next Saturday and host Emmanuel College in a 5 p.m. game.
