Two days after facing Class 4 Parkview and losing 2-0, the Fair Grove Lady Eagles (8-2) returned to their winning ways on Wednesday – taking care of business against visiting New Covenant Academy (4-4).
Thanks to a sound and balanced offensive rhythm, the Lady Eagles were successful in keeping NCA's defense on its heels for most of the match and broke through with a trio of first-half goals for a 3-0 victory.
“We liked our attack,” Fair Grove coach Joseph Florez said. “I think we were pretty unselfish and we were passing the ball pretty well today.”
PHOTOS: FAIR GROVE VS. NCA
Although Florez's club was having its way in regards to going on the offensive, New Covenant's back line was doing just enough to keep Fair Grove from breaking through on the scoreboard over the first 20-plus minutes of action.
But rather than deciding to change things up in hopes of a positive result, Florez elected to stay the course and put trust in the strategy he implemented from the start.
Fair Grove finally struck in the 24th minute as freshman midfielder Sheyanne McBroom delivered the first goal of the match.
“Sometimes, any team can tend to get a little frustrated and start doing something different,” Florez said. “We did a good job of staying with our game plan.”
The goal was tailor-made for McBroom, who received a solid pass from fellow freshman Madison Lair over the middle and took advantage of a free path to the net.
“It was just perfect timing,” McBroom said about her goal. “There were no defenders on me and it just boosted our ego a little.”
Junior Maegan Holland and freshman Ashlee Gallinger followed suit shortly afterward – connecting for scores in the 37th and 39th minutes, respectively.
The win also notched the seventh shutout of the season for the Lady Eagles, thanks to another tremendous performance from senior sweeper and team captain Emilie Armstrong.
Armstrong was instrumental in helping thwart any legitimate attacks that New Covenant threw at Fair Grove over the course of 80 minutes.
“She's a leader for us back there,” Florez said of Armstrong. “She did a great job. Even before the game, she called her defensive teammates over and kind of talked to them and told them to get focused.”
It's certainly worth noting that before Wednesday's match, the Lady Warriors hadn't stepped on a soccer pitch in eight days since several members of the team made a trip to Chicago for a choir event – which could have attributed to a somewhat sluggish performance in the defeat.
“We're pretty much trying to get back in the swing of things,” New Covenant coach Eric Crain said. “A lot of them looked like they just didn't have their legs underneath them. We knew it was going to be tough going in.”
Fair Grove travels to Laquey on Monday, while New Covenant takes part in the Greenwood Tournament starting on Saturday.
