Against a talented team, you can’t afford to make a single mistake. Unfortunately on Tuesday evening at Citizens Bank Stadium the Elizabethton Lady Cyclones made one critical error, and it cost them in a 2-1 loss to Greeneville in girls 1-2A conference soccer action.
In the 56th minute of a 1-1 game, a ball came into the Lady Cyclone penalty area just beyond the reach of senior Abbey Townsend who got a toe on the ball. Junior goalkeeper Baylee Creasy at first caught the slowly bouncing ball but lost the handle, and Greeneville sophomore Lindsey Cook was there to nudge the loose ball into the net.
“We kind of lost our mojo after that,” Lady Cyclones head coach Bill McClay said. “We stopped doing the things that we were doing in the first half to frustrate them. We weren’t giving them opportunities to play passes, and then in the second half, they had places to play the ball. But, it was a great game. We had opportunities on two good corner kicks where a head or shoulder could have been the difference maker.”
Greeneville won a free kick in the 22nd minute, and Ally Johnson played the ball into the box from 35 yards out, and Kaitlyn Adkins scored in the scrum in front of the Cyclone goal for a 1-nil advantage.
In the 34th minute, EHS (8-4, 3-1 conference) got the equalizer when junior Lexi Brown fired a high shot at Lady Greene Devils goalkeeper Lauren Miller that floated over her hands and just under the crossbar.
The second half opened with Greeneville on the attack and the Cyclones seemed to be looking for the intensity that had carried them in the first half. With EHS playing tentatively, the Devils began to pour a torrent of shots at Creasy who made several spectacular stops to keep it a one-goal game.
“The shot total was like 6-5 in the first half,” McClay said. “We had no idea what to think since it is Greeneville. No one on this team had ever scored on Greeneville, and we hadn’t beaten them since 2011 and 2012. That’s how long it has been. But, having said that we are still sitting pretty for a home game in the first round of the playoffs.”
After the miscue on the Lady Devils goal, Creasy stopped the next four shots by Greeneville with two of them being of the diving, punch-save variety. The Lady Cyclones began to press the issue at the three-minute mark moving everyone forward to try and get level, but couldn’t manage a quality shot on goal as time expired.
Greeneville 2-1
Greeneville 1 1 – 2
Elizabethton 1 0 – 1
Scoring Summary
First Half
G – Adkins (assist Johnson) 22:00
E – Brown (unassisted) 34:00
Second Half
G – Cook (unassisted) 56:00