NP girls top Southmont in soccer

Friday, August 29, 2014

ROACHDALE--North Putnam Cougars' soccer has not been a bright spot over the years and fans are not accustomed to seeing winning seasons.

Though this season is still young, the girls' team is trying to turn that around by starting the season 2-0 with a 3-1 victory over the Southmont Mounties Thursday night.

This game also marks a milestone for this Cougar (2-0) team, which beat Southmont for a second year in a row. They had lost to the Mounties the several years previous.

"Last year was the first year we really beat them in a long time," coach Chase Hiland said. "It shows that we're making strides here. We're still a young team. The fact that we can come in a nd beat Southmont two times in a row speaks to them and the hard work they put in. It also speaks to North (Putnam) about being on the up. We like to build on that and sustain on that level of play. We want to keep being competitive."

North Putnam easily surpassed the Owen Valley Patriots Tuesday night 11-0 and played well up to their expectations.

Thursday night was a little tougher and against a more experienced team. The Cougars went from having 31 shots to only seven against the Mounties, who doubled the Cougars in shots.

"We knew that some of their strengths would be tough for us," Hiland said. "Their attackers have a lot of pace. We tried to neutralize that with a change of formation about half way through the first half. We tried to move people to the middle of the field to limit those midfield runs. We wanted to make our defensive players choose. They tried to widen our defense with some side flanks. Claire (Sims) made some good saves. We made some adjustments tonight to keep them to one."

The Cougars proved to be more accurate and risky on their shot selection than Southmont. All three Cougar goals were not your conventional close-up shots.

The first goal was scored by Cougars' midfielder Kaelynn Abner. She curved one from over 20 yards out into the far upright of the net. This goal came with 18:28 left in the first half.

Mounties' defender Emily White pushed off Abner with 16:11 to go in the half and because it was inside the 18 Abner was granted a free kick. She pushed it through easily to go up 2-0 into the half.

In Tuesday's game the Cougars scored off of two corner kicks and Thursday they tried getting lucky again. In the first half Abner took the corner from junior Laurel MacGregor and shoved it just over the net. With 20:09 left in the game MacGregor nearly kicked one in herself, but it curved straight to the goalie.

Not much longer after the corner, MacGregor made up for it by boosting the ball from 40 yards out. The ball hit the ground and bounced over the goalie's head into the goal. That left only 16:26 left in the game, but they were not done with their trick shots.

With 15:38 left in the contest, Abner wanted one from 40 yards out as well. She hit the ball a tad bit strong putting it of the side of the crossbar.

"Kaelynn's really good from distance," Hiland said. Her shot was just a great shot. She was a left foot outside the 18. That was a great strike. The third goal was fortunate I will admit, but you take your chances. You can't score when you don't shoot. I encourage girls to shoot from distance when they can."

After a game full of unselfish play the Cougars were tentative to pass in this one. The Mounties kept right up to speed and at times out ran them. That is why there were no assists on any of the goals.

"They're still getting into the groove of it," Hiland said. "It's only game two. We're trying to figure out where were going to be. It's hard going from half a field in practice to a full field in games and understanding where people will be at times. I think they're a little afraid to mess up and be aggressive, but they'll be fine."

With the game in control for North Putnam all they had to do was hold on.

Southmont made one last effort late in the game, but it was a little too far gone. Freshman forward Macy Zachary shot a bullet from 20 yards out and put it in the net.

That was all the Cougar defense would allow and that was the only goal that kept them from having a scoreless season up to now.

"I think they saw a lot of things that Owen Valley didn't provide," Hiland said. "I think this team is a lot more experienced. Their coach does a great job of putting players in the right place. They were tested tonight and I think they responded pretty well. They were tested at times. Positional speaking I thought they did well. They made up for some of the speed that South had."

Penalties were an issue for North Putnam. They had 10 fouls for the game and MacGregor picked up four of those. Her second resulted in a yellow card with 36:10 left in the game.

Beating a tough team like the Mounties is a challenge for many teams. The Cougars proved they could do it and are showing positive signs in the North Putnam soccer community.


At North Putnam

Southmont 0 1 -- 1

North Putnam 2 1 -- 3

Yellow Cards: MacGregor 36:10 (2nd half)

Saves: Sims (NP) 15, Davis (S) 6.

Scoring

First Half

18:28: Abner1-0 NP

16:18: Abner (PK)2-0 NP

Second Half

16:26: MacGregor3-0 NP

8:26: Zachary3-1 NP

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