Published: October 23, 2007 10:14 am      

Lady Cards ready for Danville

By Chris Parsons / Staff Writer

The South Laurel Lady Cardinals’ soccer team is right where coach Kenna Williams wants them to be.

Her squad is riding a six match win streak with Danville coming to town as the two get set to face off in the first round of the state tournament.

South Laurel is sitting at 14-9 on the season, while Danville brings a 14-5 mark to the table.

The two teams met earlier in the season as the Lady Admirals came away with the 3-0 win, but if things go right, Williams believes the outcome will be different this time around.

“We didn’t do what we wanted to do last time we faced each other,” Williams said. “I think the key to beating Danville is coming out and scoring early and protect the lead.

“We had some opportunities to do that in our previous match, but we didn’t capitalize,” she added. “Hopefully we can come out and get on the board early and play our style of soccer.”

As far as the defense, the Lady Cardinals will have to shut down a trio of capable scoring threats for the Danville squad.

Molly Pittman leads the way with 15 goals this season, while Rachel Ricker has tallied 10 and Jessie Davis has accounted for eight.

The good news for South Laurel is that Williams feels like her team is playing well enough to limit their scoring attempts, while taking a few shots of its own.

During the Lady Cardinals win-streak, Williams and company have outscored opponents at a 27-5 clip.

If that trend is to continue, Williams said her team will have to play the way they have been of late.

“I told my girls the other day they have been playing what I call ‘text-book’ soccer, so I hope that continues,” she said. “If we can do the things we have been doing, I feel like we’ll be OK.”

As far as her team competing in the state tournament, Williams said she is not at all surprised and added there are several happenings of late that lead her to believe the Lady Cardinals have a good shot at a win.

“If you look at some scores in their district and region tournament, it looks kind of strange,” she said. “They lost to Boyle County 1-0, and only beat Somerset 2-0.

“We beat Somerset 7-0 in a scrimmage earlier this season, so you just can’t tell,” she added. “Hopefully, we can play some good soccer and advance a little further.”

Today’s Sub-Section 8 match is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. at South Laurel High School.