Progress for Lady Cougars ends in sectional finals

NEW MARKET – While it might not have been the result the North Putnam Cougars’ girls’ soccer team had hoped for in its 4-0 loss to Southmont in the Class A Sectional final Cougars’ head coach James Hilton called the season a success.

“Sure, it’s not what we wanted but I can’t be prouder of this team,” Hilton said shortly after the loss Saturday afternoon at Southmont. “They have a lot to be proud of. Just getting to the sectional final, for the first time in the school’s history, is quite an accomplishment. They are hurting right now and don’t realize it, but in time they will realize what they have accomplished.”

Saturday was a case of never getting the offense going against a strong Southmont defense. For the game the Cougars recorded only five shots and only two shots on goal.

“They have a very solid defensive team,” Hilton said. “We could never seem to break through. They always seemed to have an answer or someone in the way.”

The Cougars (6-10) played solid defense as well and the two teams were locked in a scoreless battle until Southmont’s Lexi Odum got behind the Cougars defense and went one-on-one with North Putnam goalie Cheyenne Graham. Odum won that battle and Southmont led 1-0 with 6:57 to play in the first half.

The score remained 1-0 until a Jordan Stanley goal made it 2-0 for Southmont with 28 minutes to play and then Odum added goals with 18 and 13 minutes to play in the game.

The Cougars seemed to run out of steam under the very hot conditions.

“We don’t have a real deep bench and the heat, plus playing on turf for the first time hurt us,” Hilton said. “Playing on turf makes the game so must faster and you could tell they are use to it. We played well on it for this being the first time. I think we just wore down a bit. The girls gave it everything. Just about all of them are hurt but they kept plugging away.”

The Cougars went from two wins in 2017 to six in 2018.

The loss marked the end of the career for seniors Sabrina Toth, Payton Lyons, Graham and Chloey Barnett.

“I can’t say enough about them,” Hilton said. “They have been the backbone of this year. It was a rollercoaster of a season. We started out 4-0 and then lost nine straight and then came back and won a game in the sectional. I will miss them.

“We will have to have some girls step it up. The seniors set the groundwork so now we just need to continue to build on it.”

First Half

S - Odum (33:03)

Second Half

S – Stanley (51:47)

S – Odum (61:42)

S – Odum (66:13)

Shots on Goals: Southmont 13; North Putnam 2

Saves: Southmont 2; North Putnam 9

Records: Southmont (6-10-2); North Putnam (6-10)