Ali Shelton of Motlow soccer
Riding a two-game winning streak that has seen them outscore the opposition 12-0, the Motlow Lady Bucks will play their final regular season soccer match on Wednesday, Oct. 25, when they travel to Pulaski to face the Martin Methodist JV squad at 7 p.m.
Motlow (7-7-1) has a chance to finish its first soccer season with a winning record following Friday’s 6-0 win over Martin Methodist JV at Smyrna High School. Last Wednesday the Lady Bucks tossed another shutout, beating the Covenant College JV 6-0 in Winchester. Motlow has won four of its previous five games.
Despite the impressive finish to the regular season by the Lady Bucks, they will not qualify for the playoffs in their first season. Because Motlow is the only NJCAA Division I team in the state, they were placed in a district that features teams from Florida and Mississippi. There were a number of criteria that Motlow had to meet to qualify for the playoffs and they came up short of meeting those benchmarks.
Despite that fact, Head Coach Andy Lyon has guided his team to continuous improvement throughout the season. Since starting the year 2-5-1, Motlow has won five of its previous seven games by a combined score of 24-1.
Against Covenant College JV last Wednesday the Lady Bucks dominated the action from start to finish, with much of the contest being played on the Covenant side of the field. Hannah Feaster got the scoring started at the 32-minute mark on an assist from Megan Blumhoefer, and Paige Loveless added an unassisted goal nine minutes later to give Motlow a 2-0 halftime lead.
After struggling to add to its lead in the first 33 minutes of the second half, the Lady Bucks broke loose and scored four goals in the final 12 minutes. Feaster added her second goal of the game on an assist from Loveless, Keely Smith scored unassisted, Blumhoefer and Bethany Porter added the final two goals, both with assists from Anastasia Wellington.
Ali Shelton and Lena Alakabi combined in goal to complete the shutout, with each making a save on only two shots by the opposition. Motlow had 30 shots and led in corner kicks 6-0.
Against Martin Methodist JV on Friday, the Lady Bucks came out of the gate with an offensive mindset and took the lead just four minutes in with Tyler Feaster scoring an unassisted goal. Smith added a goal at the 13-minutes mark, also without an assist.
Blumhoefer scored the first of two goals on the night just six minutes before the half, and the Lady Bucks took a 3-0 lead into the break.
Motlow’s dominance continued in the second half. Bailee Walls scored at the 66-minute mark on an assist from Wellington, and two minutes later Wellington assisted on Blumhoefer’s second goal of the game. Wellington capped of the scoring with an assist from Tyler Feaster at 81 minutes.
Emily Bryant, Shelton and Alakabi all played in goal for Motlow, with Shelton getting the lone save. The Lady Bucks outshot the Red Hawks 12-4 and led in corner kicks 6-1.
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