Clarksville, TN – After a couple of defensive lapses in the first half, leading to a 2-2 tie, the Clarksville Academy Lady Cougars soccer team clawed their way to a 4-2 win over the Cheatham County Lady Cubs at home Thursday, September 4th.
The Lady Cougars played aggressively, constantly attacking the Lady Cubs who appeared a step behind most of the game. That aggression led to 32 shots taken by the Lady Cougars, 18 on goal. However, it also led to mistakes that let the Lady Cubs score two goals in the first half.
Lady Cubs goalkeeper, Megan Bishop, had her hands full from the kickoff of the game. The Lady Cougars attempted 15 of their 32 total shots in the first half. Bishop made five first half saves and finished the game with 14.
The majority of the game took place on the Lady Cubs half of the field. The Lady Cougars stayed forward, leaving their goal keeper alone on their half of the field while they aggressively intercepted Lady Cubs goalie kicks and beat the Lady Cubs to the ball overall.
The aggression paid off with the first score of the game by Lady Cougar, Presleigh Sykes. Later, the same aggression let the Lady Cubs get behind the Lady Cougars back line, who had gotten lax playing up field.
The result was a two on one break away and Lady Cub Felly Kamhanda beating the Lady Cougar’s diving goalkeeper to tie the score 1-1.
Five minutes later, the Lady Cubs capitalized on the same mistake to take a 2-1 lead. This time, Jessica Armstrong outran the Lady Cougar’s backpedaling defender and got pass the goalkeeper who came out to meet her.
The Lady Cougars did not stay behind long. They quickly counterstriked. Rebecca Lynn scored off a well placed cross by Bailey Foote to tie the game.
The Lady Cubs made only three shot attempts in the first half and scored on two of them. They made even less attempts in the second half as the lady Cougars cleaned up their defense and continued to press offensively.
‘We did our best out there,” Christmas said. “We had girls tired, but they pushed through, they persevered.”
The game winning goal was the result of a penalty kick made by Nicki Goad in the 56th minute. Later, Goad made the cross to Sydney Halliday who scored the Lady Cougar’s last goal in the 69th minute.
“We showed up in the second half, put a couple more goals in the net and came away with a good victory,” Christmas said.
The win improves the Lady Cougars to 4-0-1. Next, they will face the White House Lady Blue Devils at home Tuesday, September 9th.
Box Score
| 1 | 2 | Final | |
| Clarksville Academy Lady Cougars |
2 | 2 | 4 |
| Cheatham County Lady Cubs |
2 | 0 | 2 |
