WEST ALEXANDRIA — Twin Valley South earned a big victory this week, beating rival and previously unbeaten Tri-County North 1-0 on Wednesday, Sept. 2. They also shut out Dixie 4-0 the night before their North showdown.
“The North game was a tribute to all the hard work the girls have done this off season,” said head coach Chad Newport. “We created a game plan and stuck to it for 80 minutes.”
South’s backs Morgan Newhart, Jaycie Fisher, Kirsten Keener and Sophie Cottingim were the key to what the Panthers wanted to do, he said.
The Panthers capitalized on a well-placed free kick from 30-yards out by Abby Creech, who buried the ball in the upper left corner of the net to give her team the advantage.
“We had a few chances in the first half that were turned away by great keeper play from North,” said Newport. “They made us play outside our normal attack first mindset. We stayed behind the ball and possessed from the back forward.”
South was able to grind it out and hold on to the 1-0 lead for a big Cross County Conference win.
Earlier in the week, they were able to show off their offense prowess though, handedly beating Dixie 4-0.
Kenzi Futrell scored the Panthers first goal off a corner kick from Sydney Vorhis. Victoria Denlinger added to a lead from an assist by Creech before Creech also netted a goal with an assist by Denlinger in the first half.
“We really wanted to use this game to possess get the entire team evolved in the attack. At times, we strung together 10 passes using five and six players, finishing with a shot,” said Newport. “This gave us 15-plus chances in the first half alone.”
The Panthers started the second half by stringing together 20 passes, resulting in another Creech to Denglinger combination for a score.
The two wins improve South to 4-0-1 overall. They will host Middletown Christian on Thursday, Sept. 10 at 5:30 p.m. before traveling to Preble Shawnee for a game on Monday, Sept. 14 for a 5:30 p.m. start.
