Senior Riley Henry picked up a loose ball at the top of the 18 in the 67th minute and drilled a laser shot into the left corner of the goal to give the ninth-ranked undefeated Lee women's soccer team (8-0, 5-0 GSC) a hard-earned 1-0 victory over visiting West Georgia (4-2, 2-1 GSC) inside the Ray Conn Sports Complex on Friday evening.
The Lady Flames strong defense has now posted five shutouts in their eight victories and has not allowed over one goal in their other three wins. On the other hand, West Georgia, another defensive-minded squad, has allowed only three goals.
"I thought West Georgia played a really solid match tonight. They are very organized, and we knew that we would have to be decisive on the ball. The first half we missed on a couple of good scoring opportunities, but I thought we were much more efficient in the second half and Riley knows how to find the back of the net," said Coach Chris Hennessey. "Overall, I'm very pleased with the win against a talented club like West Georgia."
The first 45 minutes was mainly controlled at midfield by both squads and Lee's defense only allowed the Wolves two shots. In fact, that could be said for the entire game as West Georgia only got a total of two more shots in the second half, and none were on goal in the entire 90 minutes.
On the other hand, Lee fired nine shots in the opening half and seven in the second 45 minutes for a total of 16 shots and placed five on target. Ellie Crisler, Alexis Haley, Kelsey Yoder, and Katie Wilson joined Henry with Lee's shots on goal.
West Georgia goalkeeper Chanceley Book had four saves and was charged with the loss. Lee keeper Jackie Burns is now 6-0 on the year. Lee was awarded four corner kicks and West Georgia, two. The hard-played game saw the Wolves whistled for eight fouls and Lee, five.
"We have players up and down the lineup that are stepping up for us and that depth will pay off, especially on Sunday matches," explained Coach Hennessey. "Valdosta State is always a good test, so we need to recover quickly and be ready to play another full 90 minutes on Sunday."
