Published: October 18, 2009 01:13 am      

GIRLS' SOCCER: Floyd tops Providence in sectional matchup

FLOYDS KNOBS — By virtue of its 2-0 victory over Providence on Saturday, the Floyd Central girls’ soccer team will face Corydon Central in Monday’s Floyd Central Sectional championship.

Corydon was a 4-0 winner over Silver Creek in Saturday’s other semifinal.



FLOYD CENTRAL-PROVIDENCE

Lauren Haley and Jenny Miller each scored goals off of corner kicks and the defense did the rest for the Highlanders.

Haley’s goal came on the first shot of the game, a little more than three minutes into the contest.

The play started with a corner kick by Emily Foster. Foster’s offering ricocheted off of a Providence defender, back to Foster. The junior then played the ball back into the box, where a wide-open Haley received the pass. Haley turned and put the ball in the back of the net from 9 yards away.

“We’ve not been strong in corner this year, so I was glad (to see) that,” Floyd Central coach Lewie Stevens said.

On Miller’s score, Cassie Holland put the corner kick in play. The ball was deflected off of Floyd’s Taylor Patty to Miller in the Pioneer box. Prior to the deflections, Providence goalkeeper Alyssa Hendershot had moved to the right of the goal, but the deflection found Miller on the left side.

All Miller had to do was tap it in for the score.

“Both goals were wild and crazy in the box that we were able to pick up,” Stevens said. “Those are hustle plays, so we were really happy to get those goals.”

“I thought we had (both scoring plays) shut down,” Providence coach Dave Smith said. “I don’t know, they finished two loose balls in front of the box and we didn’t finish any.”

Stevens said the key to the game was Floyd’s defense, which allowed just eight shots in the entire contest. Only two of those shots were on goal — a Casey Marlin shot in the first half and a Cristian May-Boquiren shot with 16 minutes to play. Highlander keeper Nikki Roberts corralled both shots with little trouble.

“The defense played outstanding,” Stevens said. “We’re very happy with the shutout. The defense was great and the offense came through when they had to.”

“Our defense was really good,” Miller said. “They just stayed strong and fought hard.”

“Neither team really got anything going (offensively),” Smith said. “Nobody scored in the run of play.”

The win avenged an early 2-1 loss against the rival Pioneers earlier in the season.

“It was really exciting,” Miller said. “We came out here really wanting to beat them and we’re so happy we actually beat them.”



SILVER CREEK-CORYDON CENTRAL

Corydon scored three times in the first 29 minutes of the contest and went on to advance to the sectional championship.

Vanessa Burnett scored in the sixth minute, Hannah Stachewicz in the 18th and Katie Burks in the 29th to give the Panthers an insurmountable lead. Burks added a second goal in the second half and Burnett assisted on Stachewicz’s goal.

“I think that we didn’t come out focused like we needed to be,” Silver Creek coach Danielle Hinton said. “They got the job done and we didn’t.”

For a second-year program, Hinton said reaching the semifinals and going 8-6 was quite an accomplishment.

“They give me everything. They put their heart into it,” Hinton said. “As a coach, you can’t coach heart, so I’m proud of that.”

Silver Creek’s best scoring chances came in the second half. Tiphany Harper missed a shot just left of the Corydon goal with 25 minutes left in the game, and Hayley Turner’s shot did the same in the final minute.

“We played better in the second half,” Hinton said.



FLOYD CENTRAL SECTIONAL

SEMIFINALS

Corydon Central 4 (Burks 2, Burnett, Stachewicz), Silver Creek 0

Floyd Central 2 (Haley, Miller), Providence 0