Four seniors, Riley Engels, Carly Smoltz, Emma Higgins and Taylor Green, were honored before the Lee women's soccer home game on a near perfect Sunday afternoon. The Lady Flames made it a memorable occasion by defeating Alabama Huntsville 3-0 in the final regular-season home game.
"I want to thank the seniors for all they have done over the years. Their mentality will be the key heading into our last two games on the road," said Lee head coach Chris Hennessey.
"It was a great weekend overall. Two wins in a weekend at this stage of the season is very important," explained Coach Hennessey after the win over UAH. "Sunday games are always a battle, but the girls approached it with the right mentality and got the result."
The Lady Flames still must face two road games before wrapping up the regular season schedule against Valdosta State on Thursday at 7 p.m. and Saturday 1 p.m. at West Georgia. Conference play is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, Nov. 12.
It took Lee less than two minutes (1:39) to score a goal in what turned out to be enough to secure the win. Senior Riley Engels stepped up to deliver her sixth goal of the season. The Lady Flames continued the attack at the 9:04 mark when Riley Henry tallied her seventh goal of the year on an assist from Carly Smoltz.
After the halftime break, Lee added an insurance goal on a penalty kick by Avery Engels. The PK came right after the first penalty kick by Lee had failed. Coach Hennessey shuffled players in and out of the lineup the rest of the afternoon as his Lady Flames improved to 9-2 in GSC play and 13-3 overall. The visiting Chargers dropped to 5-7, 7-9-1.
The Lady Flames fired 16 shots and had eight on frame. UAH keeper Adriana Wright came up with five saves and took her ninth loss of the year. The stubborn Lee defense limited the Chargers to only seven shots, five of which were on target but saved by Taylor Green. The Lee keeper was banged up in a three-way collision in front of the box late in the contest. Green, a solid performer all season for the Lady Flames, improved her record in goal to 13-3-0. It was the Lady Flames 12
th shutout in 16 games.
Lee's dominance continued to show clearly on the stat sheet. The Lady Flames received four corner kicks and UAH had none. The rugged match saw Lee whistled for 10 fouls and the Chargers six.
"We have some exhausted bodies right now, so with the short turn around it is important we recover well and get ready to face a very good Valdosta team," concluded Hennessey.
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