CLEVELAND, Tenn-The Lee women's soccer team kept its winning streak alive on Thursday evening by scoring four goals in the second half and handed visiting Ohio Dominican a 4-1 defeat. Earlier Cedarville University (Ohio) defeated Carson-Newman, 2-1.
Play will continue in the Lady Flames Opening Kickoff Weekend on Saturday at the Ray Conn Sports Complex. Ohio Dominican will be pitted against Carson-Newman (11 a.m.), followed by Lee and Cedarville at 1:30 p.m.
The Lady Flames finished the 2021 season with a 19-0-1 record. Much like the 2021 season ended, Coach Chris Hennessey's team could not cash in on scoring opportunities against the Panthers on Thursday evening.
"I thought we executed well tonight and did a nice job on converting our opportunities in the second half," noted Hennessey. "We hesitated; dribbled too much and settled too much in the first half. We cleaned that up quite a bit in the second half."
"We got a lot of players (22) some minutes tonight and I think the depth of this team will be a strength," he added. "The crowd was great tonight. They were loud and engaged in the match from the start. We love playing in front of a packed house."
Lauren Weimer got the Lady Flames on the board at the 45:23 mark in the second half. She was assisted by Ashley Eulo. Ellie Crisler and Katie Dirkse hooked up for the next two scores. Crisler ripped shots into the back of the net at the 50:24 and 71:16 marks. Dirkse got both assists.
The Panthers avoided a shutout when Devin Schoenberger registered an unassisted goal in the 72nd minute. Addison Smith had Lee's final goal. It was unassisted at the 73:44 mark on the scoreboard clock.
The Lady Flames outshot the Panthers 35-3 and placed 12 shots on goal while allowing the visitors only two on net. Keeper Josie Taylor played over 73 minutes and had one save. Mollie Wheeler worked the final 16 minutes. Jadelyn McNerney had six saves for the Panthers and Kaitlin Grady had a pair of saves.
