For the past four years, the Warren County and Cookeville girls soccer teams have battled it out for district supremacy.
If that’s going to be the case again this year, Cookeville made an early statement Thursday night in McMinnville. The Lady Cavs scored four second-half goals to turn what was a tight game into a convincing 6-1 victory.
The loss leaves Warren County 1-1 in the district while Cookeville improves to 2-0. Lady Pioneer coach Todd Willmore says his team still remains in good shape if it can win its remaining three district games.
“If they win out and we win out, we’ll still be No. 1 and No. 2,” said Willmore, indicating the two teams would be poised to meet in the district tournament championship. “We missed a week due to weather and have only played four games so far. This is their 10th game.”
Cookeville held a 2-1 lead at the half before using a quick-strike offense to take control. The Lady Cavs were effective in their transition offense, getting the ball downfield in a hurry then sending a crossing pass in front of the goal. The strategy worked like a charm.
Warren County had plenty of chances to counter with goals of its own, but just missed the mark on several golden scoring opportunities. On one play midway through the second half, the Lady Pioneers put the ball directly in front of the goal off a corner kick. The Cookeville keeper had fallen down and the goal was wide open, but a shot from about 5 yards away went straight up and over the goal.
“We didn’t do a good job of overcoming adversity and taking advantage of the opportunities we had,” said Willmore. “It may sound cliché, but we didn’t fight for the full 80 minutes. Cookeville was up 6-1 and they were still trying to score at the end.”
Cookeville was leading 2-0 when Ansley Mullican put the Lady Pioneers on the board. The Cookeville goalie didn’t handle the ball cleanly and allowed it to bounce on the ground. Mullican was hustling on the play and was there to knock the shot home to make it a 2-1 game.
Cookeville gained a little breathing room eight minutes into the second half with a goal to make it 3-1. Warren County had a great chance to match that goal five minutes later, but failed to convert.
Morgan McCormick used some fancy footwork to shake free from the Cookeville defense and fired a well-placed crossing pass directly in front of the goal. It looked like the Lady Pioneers might get a quality shot, but the ball squirmed away and rolled harmlessly out of bounds.
That would exemplify the remainder of the game. Even though both teams got quality looks, Cookeville capitalized while Warren County did not.
The Lady Pioneers (3-1) were in action Saturday at Webb School. Results were not available at press time. The team is scheduled to play again Monday in Sparta.