Cleveland downs CBA soccer 4-0

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on March 16, 2013 11:30 PM

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PIKEVILLE -- It had been nearly 10 months since Cleveland dominated Charles B. Aycock in the Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference girls' soccer tournament championship game.

The Rams turned in an eerily similar effort on Friday evening.

Emily Truelove scored a pair of goals and handed out an assist in a 4-0 victory at Hardy Talton Stadium. Cleveland moved into sole possession of first place in the ECC.

Truelove scored twice in last season's 4-1 win in the ECC final.

The Rams needed just 15 minutes to get on the scoreboard as Courtney Morris scored off Truelove's assist. Truelove made a long run down the far sideline with the ball at her feet and beat Golden Falcons' keeper Alex Van-Meir with a hard, low shot in the 28th minute.

Cleveland (5-1 overall, 4-0 ECC) dictated the play in the midfield for the majority of the first half. Aycock had difficulty working passes from its defense and midfield up to its forward which led to limited scoring chances.

The Golden Falcons' best opportunity of the first half came in the 32nd minute. Cheyenne Warrick received a pass from Sabrina Johnson and dribbled past multiple Rams' defenders on her way into the 18-yard box.

Warrick's shot missed just wide of the far post.

"There was a fair amount of play in the midfield and our touch was really bad tonight and their touch was really good," Aycock assistant coach Byron Adkins said. "Overall, I thought they were the better team tonight."

The Golden Falcons (3-1, 3-1) failed to generate much offense in the second half.

Warrick was routinely blanketed by two and three defenders and Aycock recorded just two shots on goal in the final 40 minutes.

"Everybody commits numbers to Cheyenne," Adkins said. "Other players need to step up. We didn't create much in the second half. We were getting the runs we wanted and the final ball was bad so we had to adjust.

"We have to do a better job in the midfield of getting our forwards the ball."

Briele Cochran scored on a header off Monique Torres' corner kick in the 60th minute to increase Cleveland's lead to 3-0. Truelove capped the scoring in the 69th minute. The Rams finished with an 8-7 edge in shots on goal.

The Golden Falcons play host to Wilson Hunt on Monday.