Girls' soccer collects dual shut-outs

Franklin County High School’s varsity girls soccer team earned two more district road victories last week — a 2-0 shut-out over Loyd Star on Friday, Dec. 16 and a 5-0 drubbing of West Lincoln on Monday, Dec. 12.

Those wins lifted the Lady Soccer Dawgs to 9-2-1 on the 2022-2023 regular season and 4-0 in Mississippi High School Activities Association Class I District 7 competition.

FC 2, LOYD STAR 0

Coming into last week’s showdown with a 12-1 overall record and 5-0 in district play thus far, Loyd Star found the going tough against a highly motivated and hungry Franklin County squad.

The Lady Soccer Dawgs scored a goal early in the first half and another after intermission to claim the 2-0 win against the Lady Hornets.

“I’m not sure if people understand how big a win this was for us,” FCHS Head Soccer Coach Jeff Long said. “Loyd Star has some outstanding players, but our girls were up to the task.

“We executed the game plan to perfection as we didn’t sit back and defend, but attacked ... and the final score really didn’t reflect how well we played.”

FC’s Gre’yonne Queen and Kaitlyn Fussell were credited with goals while Carmon Coleman and Braxton Martin earned assists in the game.

The Lady Soccer Dawgs had 23 shots and 13 shots on goal with Karlee Wallace and Brooklynn Cupit accounting for six shots apiece and three SOG each.

Fussell wound up with five shots and three shots on goal as Queen added three shots with two SOG, Edniya Gordon attempted two shots with a single SOG and Martin had a shot and SOG.

Franklin County had a tremendous defensive effort with 92 total stops against the Lady Hornets.

“Our defense was organized and solid, and I felt like we controlled all aspects of the game,” Long added. “The girls’ hard work has really paid off.”

Martin and Ken’niya McGowan paced the FC effort with 11 take-aways each with Addison Cooper credited with 10 as Amberly Wallace, Karlee Wallace and Lilly Hutto ended up with nine apiece.

Other defensive stops were earned by: Marlee Tindle, eight; Cupit, five; Coleman, five; Fussell, five; Meg Kelly, five; Queen, four; and Gordon, one.

Katherine Romero shined in the goalkeeper’s role with a shut-out and eight saves against Loyd Star.

FC 5, WEST LINCOLN 0

Earlier last week, Franklin County faced off against an up-and-coming West Lincoln program, which was sporting a season record of 11-1 — with the Lady Bears’ only loss thus far to Loyd Star.

In the end though, the Lady Soccer Dawgs dominated in the second half and cruised to a 5-0 win over West Lincoln.

“This was one of our better showings and we played with energy and intensity,” Long said. “Once we started finishing our chances, we put the game out of reach.

“When we score goals, we are tough to beat because the reason for our success comes from the play of our defenders and goalkeeper.”

Karlee Wallace paced FC with two goals while Hutto, Fussell and Queen contributed one each in the win. Cupit led with two assists as Karlee Wallace, Hutto and Tindle had one apiece.

The Lady Soccer Dawgs had 32 shots with 16 shots on goal against West Lincoln with Karlee Wallace and Cupit taking eight shots with four SOG each when the dust settled.

Hutto had five shots and three shots on goal as Fussell added four shots and three SOG, Queen and Coleman had three and two shots, respectively, with a single shot on goal apiece.

McGowan and Kelly each had one shot for the Lady Soccer Dawgs.

On defense, Franklin County earned 84 stops with Karlee Wallace pacing her squad with 11 as Cooper and Amberly Wallace finished with nine each. Martin and McGowan collected eight take-aways each.

Stop totals also included: Hutto, six; Cupit, six; Coleman, five; Fussell, five; Tindle, five; Kelly, five; Queen, four; Addison Lunsford, two; and Kendra Jones, one.

FC’s Romero earned three saves in front of the net and picked up a shut-out in the process.
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UPCOMING GAMES

The Lady Soccer Dawgs are slated to retake the field after the end-of-year holidays by traveling to Purvis on Tuesday, Jan. 3.

Franklin County will then play host to West Lincoln on Thursday, Jan. 5 and Purvis on Friday, Jan. 6.

On Tuesday, Jan. 10, the Lady Soccer Dawgs will welcome Wesson and will host Loyd Star on Thursday, Jan. 12.