Balanced scoring leads Lady Bulldogs past Farragut 4-0
Farragut senior Maddie Hammon, left, battles Bearden junior Taylor Cross for ball possession. The Lady Bulldogs jumped ahead quickly during this rivalry game at BHS’s Turner-Allender Field Thursday evening, Sept. 20, winning easily 4-0.
In fact, the game could make or break a season.
“It’s a game you look forward to all year because it’s Bearden-Farragut,” said Lady Bulldogs’ junior Alex Smith, who gave Bearden a huge early boost in its 4-0 victory over the Lady Admirals Thursday evening, Sept. 20, at BHS’s Turner-Allender Field. “When you win it feels great, but when you lose it’s a total and complete heartbreak. It’s always a big game and we came in prepared.
“We knew we needed to come out in the first five or 10 minutes and set the tone.”
The Lady Bulldogs did just that by scoring twice in the first eight minutes against a young Farragut squad, which has been riddled with injuries.
Smith gave Bearden (11-4) a 1-0 lead in the sixth minute when she scored on a rebound. She found the back of the net when she fired a deflected shot. The game’s first marker was set up by a scoring chance by Emily Carlevato that clanked off the goalpost.
Bearden took a 2-0 lead when Taylor Cross tallied (eighth minute).
Freshman Kailyn Scott made it 3-0 in the 39th minute.
Bearden’s Abby Brewer, a junior forward, scored the final goal of the match when she converted a penalty kick in the 46th minute.
“There were a lot of people in the stands and if you start fast, you can really take the emotion out of the game,” said Ryan Radcliffe, Lady Bulldogs head coach.
Farragut freshman goalkeeper Caroline Ekern finished with 17 saves for the Lady Admirals (5-6), who were missing four starters out with injuries. ‘She did a good job and she made some big saves for us,” Farragut head coach Drew Payne said, adding the Lady Bulldogs “are fast and they’re athletic and there wasn’t much we could do to combat that.
“We had our hands tied and it doesn’t help when you have all these injuries.”
