The Warren County Middle School Lady Pioneer soccer team began its season Thursday night as it faced Stewarts Creek at WCHS.
Despite a hard-fought game by both sides, Stewarts Creek came away with the victory, 4-3, after scoring two goals in the final minutes.
For the Lady Pioneers, Katie Toney finished with two goals, while Journey Cowan added a goal.
The game started with both teams moving the ball up and down the field while looking for openings. The Lady Red Hawks struck first, after there was a miscommunication between the defender and the goalie for the Lady Pioneers for a 1-0 lead five minutes into the game. 
The game slowed and despite a few great opportunities, the Lady Pioneers failed to score and entered the half down 1-0.
At halftime, the Lady Pioneers discussed better ball movement and creating angles to allow for more opportunities, according to head coach Matt Walker.
“We made some adjustments at halftime leading to moments of brilliance, but ultimately you can’t make the fundamental mistakes we did against such a good team and expect to win.”
It did not take long before the Lady Pioneers capitalized against the Lady Red Hawk defense as Toney broke free and beat the goalie thanks to a second-chance shot, tying the score just minutes into the second half. 
The Lady Red Hawks quickly answered after another defensive miscue allowing them to score a wide-open goal, 2-1. On the ensuing kick-off, Brianna Wanamaker took the ball down the right side and played a perfect cross over the middle to Cowan, who finished off the goal, 2-2. 
With 15 minutes to play, Wanamaker again played the ball to a teammate, this time to Toney, who was able to beat the defense, giving the Lady Pioneers the lead for the first time, 3-2. 
The Lady Pioneers kept clinging to a one-goal lead with time running out, but that quickly changed.
The Lady Red Hawks dribbled the ball right down the middle and struck the back of the net, 3-3. 
With less than three minutes remaining, Cowan broke free down the left side and fired a shot that hit the crossbar and it deflected off the post as the Lady Pioneers failed to regain the lead.
After the play, the Lady Red Hawks cleared the ball and advanced it down the field but missed an opportunity to score, with only seconds remaining. 
An errant goal kick landed at the foot of a Lady Red Hawk striker who took a shot that hit the hand of a Lady Pioneer defender. A free kick was awarded from 25 yards out and the shot rattled off the crossbar and fell into the top corner of the goal. 
The final whistle blew and the Lady Pioneers fell 4-3 to the Lady Red Hawks in their home opener.
“We have pass the ball better, especially in the middle of the field, if we expect to beat the better teams,” said coach Walker. “We just did not do a good job of passing over the 60 minutes.”
Walker added, “On a positive note, despite the many mistakes, we gave ourselves a chance to win. We will look to improve our ball movement and look to fix our defensive miscues heading into our Central Tennessee Conference opener next week.”
The Lady Pioneers will be back in action Tuesday as they take on conference rival Coffee County at the WCHS soccer field. The game will kick off at 5:30 p.m.