It was a roaring start for the Warren County Middle School Lady Pioneer soccer team Tuesday night in Smithville. 

The Lady Pioneers were scoring goals from all over the field while holding DeKalb County without a single goal in varsity and junior varsity action.

The WCMS varsity team won 5-0, and the JV team won 6-0.

“Goals are nice and we definitely like scoring them, but I’m more pleased with the clean sheet on defense,” said WCHS coach August Palombo. “When you don’t allow the other team to score, that shows organization and defensive awareness. I’m always going to be happy with a clean sheet.”

In varsity action, Lady Pioneer Ella Ming led the charge with a hat trick. Palombo said her third goal was a beauty as Ming took a left-footed shot from the top of the box and put the ball where the goalie couldn’t reach it. Palombo noted the left foot is Ming’s off foot and it’s rare for a middle school player to have such an accurate shot with her off foot.

Chloe Wanamaker scored a scrappy goal off a corner kick and Emory MacDonald booted in the other goal for the Lady Pioneers in varsity play.

“We showed a lot of grit and determination by scoring goals from in front of their goal,” said Palombo. “Those are plays where it gets physical in there and you’re probably going to get kicked in the shin, but we toughed it out and were able to score.”

Claire Randall and Kylie “Red” Swarthout shared time in goal for the Lady Pioneers.

In JV competition, Noelle Bratcher recorded a hat trick just seven minutes into the game. Bratcher scored at the two-minute, four-minute and seven-minute mark to put WCMS up 3-0 early. Emory MacDonald, a sixth-grader who plays on both varsity and JV, scored a goal along with Claire Randall and Brooke Kelsey.

WCMS soccer stays on the road for an away game Friday night at conference-rival Tullahoma. The game is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m.