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Lady Pioneers silence Owls
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The past two seasons, the Warren County High School soccer team seemed satisfied with making it to regionals. This season, the Lady Pioneers wanted to make sure the Ooltewah Lady Owls knew Warren County didn’t just want to be seen - the Lady Pioneers wanted to win.Behind two goals each from senior Maddie Smartt and junior Ansley Mullican, Warren County punched its ticket to the sectionals with a 5-1 win over the visiting Lady Owls Tuesday night.Warren County (15-6-1) saw its season end the last two years at the hands of Soddy Daisy in the regional semifinals on the road, but last week’s District 6-AAA tournament championship gave the Lady Pioneers a home game this time around.Warren County made the most of its opportunity as the Lady Pioneers scored five unanswered goals after the Lady Owls took an early lead.Coach Todd Willmore thought the early goal by Ooltewah temporarily fazed his team, but the Lady Pioneers fought back to get the big victory.“We had a little breakdown early that gave them a goal, but after about 20 minutes the girls really started to take over,” said Willmore. “Ooltewah put seven girls back and we started being patient and looking for our chances.”Ooltewah stunned the Lady Pioneers and a devoted Warren County fanbase with a goal three minutes into the game.The Lady Owls were able to catch Warren County off guard with a 40-yard throw in which had the Lady Pioneers outnumbered.Junior Taylor Mullican tried to rush back and stop the attack, but her header went backwards and gave the Lady Owls a one-on-one opportunity against Lyndi Dodd.Dodd couldn’t make the play as a hard shot flew past the Warren County keeper and made it 1-0 in favor of the visitors.Trying to sit on the lead and play defense didn’t work too well for the Lady Owls.After the opening goal, Warren County went on the offensive and began peppering shots at the Ooltewah goal.