The Chuckey-Doak soccer team took command of the game early on Tuesday and never looked back, thrashing Class AAA West Ridge 4-0.
“West Ridge is a solid team and we try to play up as much as we can. So this was a good game for us. A really strong team with a lot of depth. It was a really good win for us,” Chuckey-Doak Head Coach Anna Ricker said.
Both teams scrimmaged in the pre-season and that contest saw Chuckey-Doak edge out West Ridge in a close 2-1 final. Tuesday, certainly proved the growth and improvement for Coach Ricker’s team.
Aliah Campbell quickly put the Lady Knights ahead 1-0 in the second minute with a crisp shot that netted a goal for Chuckey-Doak.
“Aliah is continually getting better and better. She’s just a sophomore but she’s playing like a stud right now,” Coach Ricker said.
Niomie Merrill was credited with the assist after sending a beautiful free kick downfield and perfectly in front of Campbell’s feet. That pass contributed to the early lead and allowed Chuckey-Doak to gain momentum early and put the pressure on from there.
“It’s amazing to be talking about her because she’s a defensive player. You think of her as being a defensive specialist but she is one of our assist makers,” coach Ricker mentioned. “She actually is the catalyst of our offense the majority of the time. She never lets anything behind her and she continually keeps our offense attacking because she sends it to them so well.”
Another opportunity arose moments later, but a speedy Blakely McMurray stole a pass on defense. The Lady Wolves made a push on offense and wasted the opportunity with too many passes outside of the box that eventually led to them losing possession.
Kylie Malone had a tough stretch in the first half with three shots on goal, but couldn’t get any of them to reach the back of the net. Two of those were saved by Peyton Nelson and another swayed too far to the right.
Malone and Layla Fox had close calls in the box, but a penalty called on Nelson set Chuckey-Doak up for an opportunity to score on a penalty kick.
Bailea Gilland, in her first game back from injury, was granted the opportunity and sent a ball streaking by Nelson and into the net to put Chuckey-Doak ahead 2-0.
Coach Ricker had noticed something in practice while Gilland was nursing an injury that proved fruitful in tonight’s matchup.
Ricker said, “Bailea’s been injured and this was her first game back. Even though she was injured, she was able to work on PKs in practice a little bit. So I saw her doing that and I thought let’s go ahead and give it to Bailea, and she stepped up like an iceman and put it in and that was really important to get that two score lead.”
The Lady Knights would head into halftime with a narrow 2-0 lead.
Faith Rice began the second half trying to chip a shot over Nelson after a cross-pass from Sarah Wright. The shot would miss, but she would continue impressing on offense all second half by putting her team in position to score continuously. Her next shot would bounce off of the left cross-bar with no goal to be had.
“Faith played one of her best games tonight. I don’t know how many chances she had that just didn’t go in and it was like there was a forcefield,” Coach Ricker mentioned. “She was at the right place at the right time and doing the right things. She was doing everything right and just an unlucky night for her.”
Michaela Frazier got a shot off for West Ridge, but a save by Kylee Askew kept them off the board.
Tavyn Southerland added Chuckey-Doak’s third goal of the night to give them a comfortable 3-0 lead halfway through the second half. She placed a ball perfectly over the keeper’s head while Nelson was pulled out of position.
“Their keeper is tall too and she placed it perfectly between the cross bar and the goalkeeper,” Coach Ricker bragged. “Tavyn’s one of those girls that can score for you and you can play her at any position and she’d be good at it.”
Layla Fox attempted to put another one on the board by stretching out in front of the pack with the ball at her feet. The shot wouldn’t produce any points on the trip.
Kylie Malone and Faith Rice would have close calls late with Malone skidding one off the crossbar and Rice sending one just wide.
Malone’s hard work paid off late with a strike from outside of the box that netted another goal for Chuckey-Doak.
“She had worked so hard all night trying to get a goal in and was super frustrated after a couple shots. That was good to see her finally get one in because she worked hard all night,” Ricker stated.
The Lady Knights picked up a 4-0 shutout over West Ridge on Tuesday night to keep the momentum going on their strong campaign.
