Chillicothe Lady Hornets won their second match in as many
days, defeating Kirksville at home on Friday evening. Chilli
controlled possession of the ball for the first 17 minutes and
opened the scoring with a Mariah Cox goal and assist by Hannah
Jones. Eight minutes later a beautiful pass by defender Baily
Fox found the feet of Karson Keithley who finished into the
back of the Kirksville net. Junior midfielder Natalie Minnick
tallied a minute later, rushing onto a crossing ball from
Keithley and firing a shot from close range. With ten minutes
left in the half Kirksville was called for a penalty and
senior Lindy Saunders stepped up and blasted a hard shot to
the right side of the diving goalkeeper. The first half ended
with Chillicothe leading 4-0.
In the second half
the Lady Tigers made some adjustments and put pressure on the
Hornet defense but the senior laden group of Baily Fox, Hallee
Jones, Brooke Nelson and Jozie Reeter along with GK Jaylene
Sturguess held strong and cleared away all attempts to score.
Saunders provided the goal of this early season when she beat
her defender on the right side of the box and hit a screamer
that sailed over the outstretched arms of Kirksville’s keeper
and into the upper left corner of the goal.
The rest of the game was marked by rough play and was a
stalemate until freshman Harlie Jones was fouled in the box
with 1 minute left. Having earned the penalty kick, Jones
coolly stepped up and hit a left footed rocket that the keeper
could only watch sail by.
The coaches noted that keys to victory included the
aggressive, controlling play from midfielder Sam Baldwin and
the versatility of freshman Morgan Grable who was able to play
several positions. Freshman Mykel Heese also provided valuable
minutes. Sturguess and backup GK Brittany Derickson combined
for the shutout. Next up for Chilli is an away game on Tuesday
against conference foe Smithville.
