Wayne Country Day struggles against Harrells Christian

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on March 27, 2011 1:51 AM

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By ANDREW STEVENS

News-Argus Sports Writer

With as much as youth as Wayne Country Day has on its girls' soccer team, there's going to be plenty of long days.

Friday was one of them.

Harrells Christian scored two goals in the first 10 minutes and cruised to an 8-3, non-conference victory.

The Chargers have five seventh- and eighth-graders on their roster along with six sophomores and freshmen.

The Crusaders dominated the possession throughout the first half and Haley Whatcher got Harrells on the scoreboard four minutes into the game. Chloe Campbell's goal in the 10th minute stretched the lead to 2-0.

Catherine Ford dribbled through the teeth of the Crusaders' defense and beat keeper Megan Bass to pull Wayne Country Day to within 2-1 in the 11th minute.

Harrells (3-2-1 overall) continued to find open attackers and link passes together. Anna Devane tucked a shot into the top left corner of the goal in the 22nd minute to increase the Crusaders' advantage to 3-1.

Hannah Verelli and Campbell both scored to give Harrells a 5-1 lead at intermission. The Crusaders held a 10-2 edge in shots on goal in the first 40 minutes.

"They stretched us out pretty thin and we had a tough time marking them up," said Chargers' head coach William Hogan. "They're a lot bigger than we are and we're a fairly young group. I was really impressed with their ability to put pressure on us and keep it on."

Verelli scored two more goals in the second half. Devane collected a loose ball in front of the net for a goal.

Ford and Sarah Best each scored for Wayne Country Day after halftime. Eighth-grader Crawford Tanner recorded six saves in goal.

"I want to make sure the girls learn something," said Hogan. "The score is 8-3, but that doesn't reflect how we played. We could have scored more goals. We learned something from it."

The Chargers (2-4-0) entertain Ridgecroft on Tuesday.