HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Defense continues to be the name of the game with the Lee women's soccer team. The Lady Flames recorded their fourth shutout of the season and improved their overall record to 4-0-2 and 2-0 in GSC play with an impressive 3-0 victory over the University of Alabama in Huntsville (3-2-0, 1-1-0) at Charger Park on Sunday afternoon.
Coach Chris Hennessey's team completed a tough weekend road trip with a pair of wins and will return to Ray Conn Sports Complex on Friday at 5 p.m. when they host Auburn University Montgomery in the opening game of a conference doubleheader.
Sophomore Grace Berry wasted no time in getting the Lady Flames on the scoreboard when she knocked her shot into the back of the goal with just 1:26 gone off the clock. It was her second goal of the year. It was all downhill from there for the unbeaten Lee squad.
The defense, paced by midfielders Ashley Eulo, Juliana Lopes, Hailey Johnson and Amelya Jacobs took charge. Combined with the rest of the Lee starters, the Lady Flames allowed the Chargers only one shot the entire afternoon and none were on goal.
The contest remained 1-0 at the break before Lee broke the defensive struggle open in the 63rd minute of the second stanza. Sophomore Alaysia Nye picked up a pass from Lopes and promptly drilled it into the back of the net to make it a 2-0 contest. It was Nye's third goal of the year and Lopes' second assist.
The final goal came in the 81st minute and was tallied by freshman Mallory Miller. The ball was being tipped around close to the goal when Miller seized on the opportunity and connected on the first goal of her career.
The Lady Flames fired off 19 shots and placed eight on target. Nye had four total shots in the game, Johnson three, Berry, Lopes, Kate Dirkse, Ruth Edrington and Tatum Miller two each. Huntsville keeper Cece Szopa allowed three goals and was credited with five saves. Of course, Lee goalkeeper Josie Taylor saw no action in her entire 90 minutes while attending goal.
Lee had six corner kicks and the Chargers none. The Lady Flames were charged with 12 fouls and Huntsville eight. Lee received one yellow card.
Coach Chris Hennessey's thoughts:
"Our girls played really well against a good UAH team. We came out and scored the early goal which really helped us built some confidence. I was proud of our girls for playing this well on the second game of the road trip. We came out fresh and never let up the entire 90 minutes.
"Our midfield was strong and set the pace for the entire game. I can't remember having a team only allow one shot the entire game. We will get back, take the rest of today and Monday off. We will start to get ready for Auburn Montgomery on Tuesday. I don't know anything about AUM, but we will start to look at them the first of the week.
