Lady Wolves use big first half to down Lakeside
PEARCY — Lake Hamilton dominated the first half, leaving Lakeside to play catchup in the second as the Lady Wolves rolled to a 4-1 victory at Wolf Stadium Monday night.
The Lady Wolves set the pace immediately with a shot from Caitlyn Porter crossing wide with just over a minute off the clock, but Allison Irwin put Lake Hamilton on the board first with 1:35 off the clock. The freshman striker shot from less than five yards off the goal to give the home team a 1-0 lead.
“It was a beautiful first shot by Allison,” said Lakeside head coach Karrie Irwin, Allison’s mother. “It was the first time I ever saw her score a goal, so that was pretty cool. I was proud of her. It was probably the first time I was clapping for my kid while she’s beating us.
“That really set the tone for the Lady Wolves. Her first goal within seconds, that set the tone, and they just kind of kept coming. We got back on our heels and backed up and played a little more defensive. It took it out of us, and we couldn’t wait for them to get tired and bring it back on.”
Lake Hamilton continued to dominate early, taking over a dozen shots before Porter found the back of the goal with 22:40 remaining in the first half. Porter took a shot moments before, but Lakeside keeper Jessica Bishop blocked the goal, sending the ball into the right post and back in front of the junior striker who was celebrating her birthday.
Bishop picked up her second goal less than a minute later, connecting from the right corner of the goal box to make it 3-0 with 19:54 to go in the half.
Lakeside began to find its offensive stride, taking several shots, but Lake Hamilton senior Jasmin Garcia put the home team up 4-0 with 2:58 left in the first period.
The Lady Rams came out stronger in the second half. Lakeside was awarded a corner kick with just over five minutes off the clock in the half, and senior Melissa Perrigo dropped the ball in front of freshman midfielder Ashley Gayle, who tapped the ball into the right corner to cut the deficit to 4-1.
“That was a great cross by Melissa Perrigo,” Irwin said. “Ashley did what she’s been taught to do — run right in and keep charging the goal. It doesn’t matter who’s in front of you, just focus on the ball and go for it. That’s what we worked on with these girls.”
Lakeside put the majority of their 23 shots in the second half on-target with four of its freshman bringing the lion’s share of the pressure into the box as Emmi Kejser,
Taylor Ramirez, Taylor Bledsoe and Gayle combined for 10 of the team’s shots. The quartet had seven of their 10 on-goal with the team taking 14 shots on-target for 60.9 percent efficiency.
Bishop finished with an 80 percent save percentage with 16 saves and six blocks while allowing four goals. The Lady Rams conceded just two corner kicks while taking four in the match, and they committed just three fouls in 80 minutes of play.
Lake Hamilton took 32 shots on the night with 21 shots ongoal for 65.6 percent efficiency, with Porter providing 11 of 14 shots on target and Kaili Birmingham adding five of seven ongoal.
“She had a great game,” Scott said of Porter. “She’s a leader for us. She’s very dependable. Her work ethic is spot-on. She’s a good kid all around. She’s a good athlete. She doesn’t show a lot of emotion, which I like, except in her play, which is where it counts.”
Brianna Tracy-Withers had 11 saves and eight blocks while giving up just one goal in the match for a 92 percent save percentage. The Lady Wolves had just three fouls called in the match.
“We need Brianna,” Scott said of her keeper, who came back from an injury last week. “She’s got the height, the wingspan. She’s got the experience, and I need (reserve keeper) Kayla (Mark) on the field. She makes a huge difference in the middle of the field, her quickness. She’s starting to see the field better, see the angles for the passes.
“I had everybody where we needed them tonight, and that made a big difference the first half. We’re fortunate to be on our field tonight, and we didn’t want them to take another one from us. We had to even the score a little bit.”
Lake Hamilton faced off against Hot Springs (0-13, 0-8) Tuesday night on Tommy J. Holt Memorial Field at Joe Reese Stadium in a rematch of last Friday’s win at Wolf Stadium. The Lady Wolves are scheduled to travel to De Queen (11-5, 9-0) Friday.
The Wolves picked up the No. 8 seed in the 6A-West district tournament which kicks off Saturday. They will travel to top-seeded Siloam Springs (14-2-2, 6-1 5A/6A-1) Saturday at 2 p.m. A win will have them face the winner of Saturday’s match between fourth-seeded El Dorado (11-2, 5-2) and fifth-seeded Texarkana (7-6, 6-4)), and a loss pits them against the loser of the same game with the higher-seeded team hosting the match on Tuesday.
Lakeside hosts De Queen for Senior Night Thursday before the 5A-South district tournament kicks off Monday at White Hall. Seeding for the tournament has not yet been determined.