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West Jessamine's Rachel Craycraft (13) passed the ball up the sideline during Tuesday night's match against Mercer County. (Photo by Jonathan Stark/jstark@jessaminejournal.com / August 21, 2012) |
West Jessamine took little time settling into its new district as the Lady Colts (3-1 overall, 1-0 district) defeated Mercer County 3-0 on Tuesday night.
The Lady Colts set the tone and pace early with a goal five minutes into the game by senior Toria Howard.
“Getting that early goal was key in settling in and taking a breath and not trying to force or press things,” West coach Kevin Wright said.
West and Mercer (1-1) battled for the next 40 minutes and into the second half before the Lady Colts got on the board again.
“I knew that if we could get to the half and try and wear them down, (we had a chance to win)” Wright said. “We’re a second-half team. We’re fit; we’ve got athletes; we use this big wide field to our advantage and wear people out.”
It was Howard for a second time as she scored on a free kick following a foul in the box.
About seven minutes later, it was Jessica Watson finding the net to make it a 3-0 game.
The lead held for the final 27 minutes, and West picked up its third win of the season and first district win.
For the Lady Colts, it was their fourth game in as many days. They defeated Beechwood 3-0 to open the season, but fell to Sacred Heart (Louisville) on Sunday 4-0 — the program’s largest margin of defeat since October 2009 in the region championship game.
