By Nolan Epstein
Springfield, Mo. — Following a comeback effort that fell heartbreakingly short two nights ago, the Fair Grove Lady Eagles (7-5) made the necessary adjustments to come out on the right end of the scoreboard on Wednesday – clinching a 2-1 win on the road over a New Covenant (6-6) squad that was playing its third game in as many days.
Head coach Joseph Florez’s team ensured there would be no need for a comeback this time around as the Lady Eagles turned up the offensive heat early – jumping out to a two-goal lead before halftime thanks to scores from senior Maegan Holland and sophomore Cydney Fullerton.
Holland, along with senior midfielder Shyanne McBroom, were instrumental in helping lead the attack on offense to create the early scoring opportunities.
“In soccer, if you really want to attack, you either have to fast break or you have to really have everybody push up together,” Florez said after the win. “I think our mids did a good job of pushing up today and getting into the attack.”
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Fair Grove was also able to utilize its advantage of a deep bench on Wednesday. With the temperature above 80 degrees at game time, both teams were forced to rotate players more often due to the heat – something that the Lady Eagles were able to do rather seamlessly for a full 80 minutes.
“We have good depth and I think that showed,” said Florez. “I have a lot of girls on our bench that I trust, and when I put them in, there wasn’t much of a drop-off. That’s what you hope for.”
Heat wasn’t the only element that the two clubs had to deal with throughout the contest as a stiff wind blowing from the south affected how the ball traveled in the air.
With the wind at their backs in the first period of play, the Lady Eagles cashed in.
“I think the wind was definitely a factor in this game,” Florez added. “It made us look a little better than we are in the first half and it might have made us look a little worse than we are in the second half. We just have to play with whatever is in front of us.”
Perhaps aided by the wind as well, New Covenant closed the gap to 2-1 when junior midfielder Jacey Lamb found the net just seven minutes into the second half.
Several more opportunities to tie the match presented themselves down the stretch for the Lady Warriors, but key stops by a stout Fair Grove defense proved to be just enough to seal the victory and leave NCA with a tough loss on its own pitch.
“It’s just unfortunate that we gave the two goals up,” New Covenant head coach Eric Crain said. “We had to work hard and try to battle back. With the amount of subs that I have, and the experience and stuff, it was just a little too much.”
Fair Grove returns home to take on Laquey on Monday, while New Covenant travels to Rogersville on Tuesday.
