By By Ryan Satcher /staff writer
Jan. 30, 2002
The Lady Trojans of Northeast Lauderdale got a hat trick from Danielle Smith to win their first-round MHSAA Class 4A soccer playoff game Tuesday night over visiting Brookhaven 5-0.
Northeast kept the pressure on the Lady Panthers the whole game, allowing the visitors only one real scoring chance and only a few trips into the offensive end of the field.
The Lady Trojans put pressure on Brookhaven early in the first half as they came out and got a good cross from Katie Bergin that was just a little too far ahead of Capri Norris and went wide in the first 30 seconds of the game.
Northeast continued to get shots on goal and just minutes later the Lady Trojans got another good chance when Smith beat a defender on the left side of the field, but her left-footed shot went just wide of the goal.
The Lady Trojans finally got a goal with about 30 minutes left in the first half when the ball bounced loose from the goalie's hands and Norris was there to put the ball home to make the score 1-0.
Smith got her first goal of the game later in the half when she broke free behind the defense to go one-on-one with the goalie. She put the ball into the left side of the net to make the score 2-0.
After a few other Northeast chances failed, the Lady Panthers got their only chance of the game when Chuvaquah Smith used her speed to get behind the defense. Northeast goalie Raleigh Odom came out and cleared the ball just in time to prevent a goal and Northeast took the 2-0 lead into halftime.
Northeast had a good chance early in the second half when Ivy Rawson fed Bergin with a pass. Bergin took on the goalie but missed the shot just wide right.
The Lady Trojans kept the pressure on Brookhaven and got a goal minutes later when Rawson fed Smith with a nice pass. Smith settled the ball and kicked it into the right side of the goal for a 3-0 lead.
Brookhaven keeper Lizzie Wilson kept the Lady Trojans out of the goal with some nice saves, but Smith got her third goal of the game with 15:30 left when she took a shot off a pass from Rawson. The shot seemed to be saved by the keeper, but had passed the line for the goal.
Northeast got a goal a couple minutes later when Rawson scored a penalty kick to finish out the scoring and give the Lady Trojans a 5-0 victory.
The Lady Trojans improved to 11-1 on the season and will play George County Saturday. George County improved to 16-1-1 with a 4-0 first-round win over Picayune.