GENTRY -- The Lady Pioneers traveled to Harrison High School for a soccer game against the Lady Goblins last Thursday night. On Monday, the team played their last regular season match at Pioneer Stadium against Huntsville.
Thursday night's game was a learning experience as well as a challenge for the Gentry girls. With Harrison being the No. 1 team in the conference, having an undefeated record, and with only one goal scored against them this season, the team went into the game with a defensive mindset, determined not to get mercy-ruled. Gentry's strategy for the game was to play nine girls back on defense with one forward upfront in case of a breakaway.
The Lady Pioneers held Harrison for a few minutes before the scoring rally began. The Lady Goblins had great touches, a purposeful passing game, and successfully followed the ball on every shot that was taken, resulting in several goals for them. As the score went up, the girls continued to fight. The Lady Pioneers made an own-goal for Harrison in an attempt to body the ball away from the goal. The team held Harrison at four points for a majority of the half, but the Lady Goblins were able to punch in two more goals before halftime, putting the mercy rule into effect.
In the second half, which was only 20 minutes long, the Gentry girls went out and played soccer in their regular formation. In this half, they only let one goal go by for the Lady Goblins. The girls got more opportunities to play offense but they still weren't able to score. The game ended with a final score of 7-0, Harrison.
The girls played their last regular-season game on Monday night against Huntsville. The majority of the game was spent on Gentry's offensive half of the field. The team had several opportunities to score and make runs on the ball. The girls did an excellent job of passing and utilizing their wings against the Lady Eagles. Senior Emily Hays scored the first goal for the Lady Pioneers from the left side of the field, shooting the ball into the top right corner of the goal. On defense, the girls were up against a fast Huntsville forward. The Lady Eagles had speed upfront that troubled the Lady Pioneers' defense; however, the defenders were able to outnumber the Lady Eagles, leading to a few saves by Gentry's keeper, McCarty, and some great defensive stops. The girls had several chances to score in the first half, but the score at the end of the first forty minutes was 1-0. After the half, the girls came out determined to get a few more goals.
The second half was much like the first, with several shots on goal and with Gentry playing offense nearly every possession. The team had several corner kicks and chances to score close to the goal. Toward the end of the second half, freshman Emma Tevebaugh shot and scored Gentry's second goal.
Every girl got to play for the Lady Pioneers on Monday night, and some girls got to play in new positions. Kailey Ward (11) is one of the Lady Pioneers' starting defenders. At the end of the second half, Ward moved up to play forward and was able to take a few great shots. In the final minutes of the game, she shot a beautiful goal over the Huntsville keeper. Ward scored Gentry's third and final goal of the game. The girls ended their regular season with a 3-0 win over the Lady Eagles.
"I think we played well against Huntsville. Our passing and crossing were good and we played well as a team overall. It felt good to score since I haven't in a while," shared Ward.
The Lady Pioneers are now headed into the conference tournament where they are going in tied for sixth place with Farmington. Since Farmington beat the Gentry girls in their conference game back in March, the Lady Cardinals are taking 6th place and the Lady Pioneers are sitting at seventh. This ranking lined up Gentry to face the #2 team in the conference, Prairie Grove, on Friday, April 30, at Prairie Grove. The girls played two close games with the Lady Tigers and were hopeful to come out on top in this third matchup.
Editor's Note: On Friday, the Lady Pioneers lost to the Prairie Grove Lady Tigers at Prairie Grove by a score of 1-0. The Gentry boys beat Huntsville, 7-2, on April 26, and 3-1 on Thursday. They fell to Clarksville, 6-1, on Friday.
