Wayne Country Day stops Wayne Christian

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on March 24, 2009 1:46 PM

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Injuries either galvanize a team or have a crippling effect on the roster.

Despite losing two starters to injuries, No. 1-ranked Wayne Country Day plugged the holes in its lineup and scored three second-half goals to defeat county archrival Wayne Christian 4-0 on Monday.

The Eagles also competed without two starters and had just 12 players in uniform.

Wayne Country Day senior Brooke Norris scored a first-half goal off Shelle Anderson's assist in the seventh minute. The Chargers (2-0-0) limited the Eagles to just one shot on goal in the opening 40 minutes.

Wayne Christian (2-3-0) struggled to generate scoring opportunities in the second half with several offensive starters forced to fill in defensively.

Not content with its 1-0 lead, Wayne Country Day continued to attack in the second half.

Norris fed a through ball past the Wayne Christian defense to Sarah Best, who buried a shot in the back of the net for a 2-0 lead in the 56th minute. Six minutes later, Best scored again off another Norris assist.

"This was a nice win to build that confidence to try to get that back to that level they were on last year where they felt like they could walk on the field and beat anybody," said Chargers head coach Baron Heinemann. "I don't know if our intensity changed in the second half. I just think they played smarter."

Norris capped the scoring in the 74th minute.

"I think what happened was halfway through the second half we just gave out of gas," said Eagles head coach Daryl Anderson. "We don't have many subs right now. I'm missing two starters and I've got 12 players.

"One of those has a bad knee and another has a sprained ankle. We're just doing the best we can until we get everybody back."

Each team returns to conference play today. Wayne Christian entertains Carolina Christian 1-A foe Cape Fear Christian. The Chargers welcome Coastal Plains Independent 1-A opponent Kerr-Vance.