Small steps
Lady Knights beat PJPII 5-1 for second straight win
By Tom Ham Senior Staff Writer
The process of outgrowing a polite brand of soccer continues for the Greenfield School varsity girls team in the first season of head coach Randol Mendoza.
The new coach's task is compounded by the attempt to blend middle school and high school players at the varsity level. Furthermore, several of the 2015 Lady Knights are new to the sport.
But in Wednesday night's chilly home assignment, Greenfield players went from tip-toeing about their responsibilities to becoming more confident and assertive with each goal in turning back North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association 1-A Coastal Plain Independents Conference foe Pope John Paul II of Greenville by a 5-1 count.
Hard-nosed eighth-grader Cameron Milne, anything but a tentative or timid performer, drilled a goal and doled out two assists. Senior Eliza Darden Smith netted two goals and the Lady Knights came within a minute of posting their first shutout of the Mendoza era.
Coming off a 4-2 win Tuesday against Freedom Christian of Fayetteville, Greenfield advanced to 2-0 in the CPIC and to 2-4 overall. The Lady Saints, with just 12 players available, dipped to 0-3 and 0-5, respectively.
"We're getting better, we're seeing progress," Mendoza assessed. "We're getting a lot of touches on the ball in practice, and it's showing. We're taking small steps."
Smith finished a Milne assist in the fifth minute for a 1-0 Greenfield lead. Slightly over two minutes later, Milne worked the ball to sophomore Grayson Ferrell. Ferrell's shot escaped Lady Saints goalkeeper Mikayla Harrell, a junior, and trickled into the goal.
Greenfield settled for a 3-0 halftime lead on Smith's second goal, which was assisted by seventh-grader Rachel Thomas.
Kaelyn Wall, another seventh-grader, collected Greenfield's first of two second-half goals when her shot slipped through the keeper's legs. Some 14 minutes into the second half, Milne fielded a goal kick and blasted an accurate shot from some 15 yards away.
The Lady Knights cranked 26 shots as compared to seven for Pope John Paul.
"Our passes were connecting well today," Milne noted. "That got our confidence up. This is really going to help us the rest of the way."
Of Greenfield being denied the shutout, Milne responded: "What happens, happens. We're very glad to get the win."
Sophomore Greenfield keeper Anna Merritt Hauser (three saves) and her defensive corps of senior Randi Gerwatosky, freshman Tara Fulghum, eighth-grader Anna Price Redding and junior Mary Catherine Boyette were some 55 seconds away from the shutout when Lady Saints freshman Kendall Tingen whizzed a shot past Hauser.
Pope John Paul flirted with a goal midway the second half. Hustling sophomore Stefani Mora pounded a shot that caromed off the left post, but Hauser retrieved the ball before it could wobble into the net. In the opening moments of the final period, Lady Saints senior Kate Kus was unable to convert a breakaway. The Lady Saints successfully strung several passes in the opening moments, but Greenfield's Boyette stepped in at the mouth of the goal to flick the ball away.
The down side to Greenfield's back-to-back wins is the fact the team does not play again until April 13.
"It's unfortunate," Mendoza said. "You want to have the continuity to keep getting practices in. But everybody plans vacations - and they leave."
But confidence is growing.
"We'll keep chugging away, keep practicing," Mendoza pledged. "It's showing.
"Rome wasn't built in a day. Give me two years. Talk to me then and see where we are. I plan to be here."
hammer@wilsontimes.com | 265-7819
Lady Knights beat PJPII 5-1 for second straight win
By Tom Ham Senior Staff Writer
The process of outgrowing a polite brand of soccer continues for the Greenfield School varsity girls team in the first season of head coach Randol Mendoza.
The new coach's task is compounded by the attempt to blend middle school and high school players at the varsity level. Furthermore, several of the 2015 Lady Knights are new to the sport.
But in Wednesday night's chilly home assignment, Greenfield players went from tip-toeing about their responsibilities to becoming more confident and assertive with each goal in turning back North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association 1-A Coastal Plain Independents Conference foe Pope John Paul II of Greenville by a 5-1 count.
Hard-nosed eighth-grader Cameron Milne, anything but a tentative or timid performer, drilled a goal and doled out two assists. Senior Eliza Darden Smith netted two goals and the Lady Knights came within a minute of posting their first shutout of the Mendoza era.
Coming off a 4-2 win Tuesday against Freedom Christian of Fayetteville, Greenfield advanced to 2-0 in the CPIC and to 2-4 overall. The Lady Saints, with just 12 players available, dipped to 0-3 and 0-5, respectively.
"We're getting better, we're seeing progress," Mendoza assessed. "We're getting a lot of touches on the ball in practice, and it's showing. We're taking small steps."
Smith finished a Milne assist in the fifth minute for a 1-0 Greenfield lead. Slightly over two minutes later, Milne worked the ball to sophomore Grayson Ferrell. Ferrell's shot escaped Lady Saints goalkeeper Mikayla Harrell, a junior, and trickled into the goal.
Greenfield settled for a 3-0 halftime lead on Smith's second goal, which was assisted by seventh-grader Rachel Thomas.
Kaelyn Wall, another seventh-grader, collected Greenfield's first of two second-half goals when her shot slipped through the keeper's legs. Some 14 minutes into the second half, Milne fielded a goal kick and blasted an accurate shot from some 15 yards away.
The Lady Knights cranked 26 shots as compared to seven for Pope John Paul.
"Our passes were connecting well today," Milne noted. "That got our confidence up. This is really going to help us the rest of the way."
Of Greenfield being denied the shutout, Milne responded: "What happens, happens. We're very glad to get the win."
Sophomore Greenfield keeper Anna Merritt Hauser (three saves) and her defensive corps of senior Randi Gerwatosky, freshman Tara Fulghum, eighth-grader Anna Price Redding and junior Mary Catherine Boyette were some 55 seconds away from the shutout when Lady Saints freshman Kendall Tingen whizzed a shot past Hauser.
Pope John Paul flirted with a goal midway the second half. Hustling sophomore Stefani Mora pounded a shot that caromed off the left post, but Hauser retrieved the ball before it could wobble into the net. In the opening moments of the final period, Lady Saints senior Kate Kus was unable to convert a breakaway. The Lady Saints successfully strung several passes in the opening moments, but Greenfield's Boyette stepped in at the mouth of the goal to flick the ball away.
The down side to Greenfield's back-to-back wins is the fact the team does not play again until April 13.
"It's unfortunate," Mendoza said. "You want to have the continuity to keep getting practices in. But everybody plans vacations - and they leave."
But confidence is growing.
"We'll keep chugging away, keep practicing," Mendoza pledged. "It's showing.
"Rome wasn't built in a day. Give me two years. Talk to me then and see where we are. I plan to be here."
hammer@wilsontimes.com | 265-7819
