On the attack from the opening minutes, the 5th-ranked Lee women's soccer team wasted no time in pleasing the crowd in its home opener on Wednesday evening. The Lady Flames zipped to a 3-0 lead at the end of the first half and added a pair of scores in the second stanza, defeating Tusculum College, 5-0.
Lee improved to 4-1 and posted its third straight victory. The Pioneers dropped to 3-4. The Lady Flames will remain on the Lee Soccer Field Saturday evening at 7 p.m. when they open Gulf South Conference play against Shorter University.
With just over six minutes off the scoreboard clock, the Lady Flames seized control with an on goal. In the 19th minute, Lee pushed the lead to 2-0 on a well-executed set piece. Junior Devin Healy delivered the ball and teammate Riley Henry sent the ball into the lower right side of the net.
The Lady Flames increased their lead to 3-0 in the 31st minute. Healy tallied when she drilled her shot into the lower corner of the net for her second goal of the year. Lee continued to control the contest but waited until the 85th minute when freshman Mallory Hayden scored the first goal of her career and was assisted by veteran junior Kelsey Yoder. Senior Riley Engels put an explanation mark on the win in the 86th minute, ripping her shot into the lower left corner of the net for her second goal of the year.
Taylor Green played the first 71 minutes in goal before freshman Mollie Wheeler saw her first action of the year and recorded a pair of saves. The Pioneers used two goalkeepers. Ceclie Mortensen worked the initial 76 minutes and had a pair of saves. Danielle Breen came on for the final 14 minutes and picked up a save. The Lady Flames attempted 17 shots and five were on frame. The Pioneers were allowed only four shots by the stingy Lee defense and had two on target.
"Our non-conference play is over and we finished with a very good performance tonight. I'm proud of the team," said Lee head coach Chris Hennessey. "We came out aggressive on the front foot and took control in the first minutes. Our defenders worked well as a team again. I'm pleased that everyone that was available played tonight. Now we have to start getting focused and ready for our conference opener against Shorter on Saturday."Â Â
