Oakwood soccer team enjoys three straight shutouts
The Oakwood Christian soccer team put one in the win column last Monday night with a 9-0 triumph over Shenandoah Baptist in a SCAA match in Chickamauga.
Sam Lewis got things going for the Navy-andGold with a goal in the 16th minute and things picked up dramatically after that. Caleb Epperson scored in the 18th and 26th minutes, bookending Lewis’ second tally in the 21st minute. Late first-half goals by Tomo Gilchrist (28th minute), Hunter Hickman (35th) and Ryan Scarbrough (37th) made it 7-0 Eagles at intermission.
Garrett Dempsey joined Hickman by scoring his first high school goal just seven minutes into the second half and Gilchrist found the net once more off a corner kick with 27 minutes left on the clock.
OCA 8, Shenandoah 0
After the easy win last Monday, the Eagles continued their dominance in a Thursday night rematch. Chase Hepinstall netted the first goal in the sixth minute and Gilchrist found the net in the 10th and 21st minutes and the Eagles would take the 3-0 lead into intermission.
After making two saves in goal in the first half, Price Ray moved to forward in the second half as Hickman played keeper in the final 40 minutes. Ray scored in the 45th and 55th minutes. Epperson blasted home goals in the 47th and 65th minutes and Scarbrough put one home in the 53rd minute.
Hepinstall and Scottie Duffey both were credited with assists in the win as OCA moved players around frequently after the first 15 minutes.
OCA had 31 shots on goal, 12 coming on the combined efforts of Epperson and Hepinstall. Scarbrough, Ray, Dempsey, Lewis, Jarrett Chambers and Noah Renshaw all had at least three shot attempts, while
Corey Holder and Isaiah Staven got good looks as they played solid minutes at forward.
Hickman picked up two second-half saves.
OCA 3, Open Bible 0
Playing on a neutral field two-and-a-half hours away in Hampton, the Eagles faced off with their GCAA foes from Valdosta on Friday night and scored the win in the first meeting between the two schools on opposite ends of the state.
Playing in steamy and stifling conditions, the two teams duked it out in the midfield for much of the first half, which ended in a scoreless tie. The best opportunity to score came from Open Bible, who was awarded a penalty kick, but missed it wide.
The Eagles cranked up the aggressiveness to open the second half and it paid off in the 51st minute as Hickman turned the corner, beat a defender and got OCA on the board.
A handball call on the Eagles shortly after the OCA goal gave the Warriors another chance to get on the board. The kick clanked off the crossbar and back into the field of play, right at the feet of the PK shooter. However, Ray was up the task and made the save to end the threat.
Lewis gave OCA some breathing room in the 66th minute, getting past the defense for a goal and, after some hard shots by Gilchrist and Epperson, Epperson tacked on the insurance goal in the 77th.
OCA had 15 shots on goal, while Ray finished with 12 saves as the Eagles improved to 3-0-1 overall.
“Overall, this was the toughest opponent we have faced this season and it came at a good time,” head coach Dirk Dickson explained. “Playing on backto-back nights in this heat and humidity is tough, both physically and mentally. When a team has to travel for hours, you’re never sure if they are going to stay focused, but this team stayed focused and took another step closer to their season goal.”