Lady Dawgs split soccer decisions

The Franklin County High School girls varsity soccer team suffered its first loss against Brookhaven on Thursday, Dec. 1, but bounced back with a road win over Enterprise-Clarke County on Saturday, Dec. 3.

The Lady Soccer Dawgs’ season mark now stands at 5-1-1 overall with the lone tie of the campaign — a 1 to 1 finale — coming against North Pike back on Thursday, Nov. 10.

FC 2, ENTERPRISE 1

Franklin County scored a single goal in each half of this past weekend’s win over Enterprise — with Kaitlyn Fussell scoring initially on a follow-up shot attempt by Gre’yonne Queen.

The Lady Soccer Dawgs’ winning goal came in the second frame as Brooklynn Cupit found the net thanks to a timely pass from Karlee Wallace.

“We were flat and lacked intensity, but found a way to win,” FCHS Head Soccer Coach Jeff Long said after Saturday’s contest.

“We took advantage of some chances and played decent defense, which turned out to be enough. I thought we had some players step up and provide some energy with Bradi Wallace, Savanna Emfinger and Meg Kelly giving us a spark defensively.”

Against Enterprise, Franklin County finished with 17 total shots and six shots on goal.

Karlee Wallace led the team with five shots and one shot on goal while Cupit and Fussell both wound up with four shots and two SOG apiece.

Additionally, Queen had two shots and one SOG while Edniya Gordon and Lilly Hutto each had one shot.

On defense, Karlee Wallace paced the Lady Soccer Dawgs with 10 stops while Ken’niya McGowan added nine and Braxton Martin finished with eight.

Others with defensive take-aways in the game included: Addison Cooper, seven; Amberly Wallace, six; Hutto, five; Kelly, Fussell and Carmon Coleman, four each; Cupit, Queen, Bradi Wallace and Marlee Tindle, three each; and Addison Lunsford, Gordon and Emfinger, one apiece.

FC goalkeeper Katherine Romero accounted for a total of six saves against Enterprise while surrendering a single goal on a second-half penalty kick.

BROOKHAVEN 2, FC 1

After battling to a 1-all tie at the end of regulation, the Lady Panthers and Lady Soccer Dawgs opted to end their stalemate with a penalty kick shootout.

FC’s Cooper, Hutto and Fussell scored on three overtime shots, but Ole Brook converted all five of its attempts to break the tie, claim the 2-1 victory and send the Lady Dawgs to their first loss of the season.

Hutto scored her team’s lone goal during first-half action on a penalty kick.

“This was a great experience for us,” Long said. “We played hard and had plenty of opportunities to put the game away. Ole Brook has a solid team and didn’t give up.

“We just had a moment where we gave them some space to get off a shot, failed to step out of the box and that resulted in a goal.

“Romero was amazing, Martin was outstanding defensively and Queen stepped up in the second half and created numerous chances.

“It’s frustrating to let the game slip away in the final seconds, but it happens. If we converted more opportunities, we would have won easily. This was a learning experience and will make us stronger in tight games.” 

The Lady Soccer Dawgs accounted for 24 team shots against Ole Brook with 10 shots on goal.

Karlee Wallace led the offense with six shots while Cupit had five and Hutto contributed four — the trio each recorded two shots on goal.

Queen and Fussell both recorded three shots apiece and two SOG as Coleman, Gordon and Kayleigh Foy chipped in one shot each.

The Lady Dawgs had 79 defensive stops with Martin leading the effort with 10 as Cooper and Hutto tacked on eight take-aways apiece.

FC’s defensive efforts were boosted by these players and their stop totals: Karlee Wallace, seven; McGowan, seven; Amberly Wallace, six; Fussell, six; Kelly, five; Queen, five; Cupit, five; Tindle, four; Foy, three; Coleman, three; and Gordon, two.

Romero worked 80 minutes in the keeper’s role with 15 total saves and a surrendered goal to Ole Brook.

Amberly Wallace took over in the shootout and gave up five penalty goals on as many attempts by the Lady Panthers.

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UPCOMING GAMES

A district contest against Hazlehurst set for Tuesday, Nov. 29 at home was postponed until a yet-to-be-determined date due to inclement weather.

FC was slated to take on district opponent Wesson Tuesday, Dec. 6, but results were not available at press time.

On Thursday, Dec. 8, the Lady Soccer Dawgs will travel to Bogue Chitto for a 6 p.m., district contest and will travel to Forest for a non-district matchup at 5 p.m., Friday, Dec. 9.

The squad will play in two additional district games before the Christmas hiatus — at West Lincoln on Monday, Dec. 12 and at Loyd Star on Thursday, Dec. 15.