Strickland scores two quick goals

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on March 29, 2013 1:47 PM

• Print
• Email

PIKEVILLE -- Triton tried valiantly to slow down Charles B. Aycock's goal-scoring machine Cheyenne Warrick.

All the Hawks really did was create scoring opportunities for other Golden Falcons.

Alex Strickland scored twice in the first seven minutes and Aycock defeated Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference foe Triton 5-2 at Hardy Talton Stadium on Thursday evening.

Strickland scored just five minutes into the game and found the back of the net two minutes later after she won the ball from a Hawks' defender and tucked a shot into the goal.

"In the first 20 minutes we applied pressure," Golden Falcons' head coach Byron Adkins said. "We got the ball to Alex at the top of the box which allowed her to put two away. When other teams focus on Cheyenne, it allows Alex and other players to have that freedom in the middle.

"The defender has to come and mark them or mark Cheyenne, and it is a case of two evils."

Triton began to control play in the midfield and work passes up toward its forwards.

The Hawks took advantage of a pair of defensive breakdowns to tie the game. Emily Neville made a long run down the near sideline and dribbled past multiple Aycock defenders before firing a shot past Golden Falcons' keeper Alex Van Meir in the 16th minute.

Neville again capitalized on space vacated by the Aycock defense before crossing a pass into the 18-yard box that Jessica Portillo used to score and tie the game at 2-2 in the 26th minute.

"That is us just being undisciplined and not doing what we should be doing," Adkins said. "Those were two good goals, actually, but we created our own problems."

Moments after Triton tied the game, Warrick nearly put the Golden Falcons back in front with a shot that clanged off the post.

Aycock (7-3-0 overall, 6-1-0 ECC) began to pressure the Hawks' defense while working the ball down the wings. The Golden Falcons earned back-to-back corner kicks in the 28th and 29th minutes. Warrick scored on the second of those corner kicks off Anja Kliss' assist to put Aycock on top 3-2.

Warrick charged the goal line and was able to score on a rebound off Sabrina Johnson's shot in the 39th minute to increase the Golden Falcons' advantage to 4-2.

Aycock largely dictated the possession in the second half and earned five shots on goal and a corner kick in the final 40 minutes. Emily Borel and Strickland missed just wide on a header, and a long shot in the 47th and 48th minutes, respectively.

Warrick's shot from inside the 18-yard box was turned away in the 61st minute. The Golden Falcons were rewarded for their consistent pressure as Ivana Pettersen scored on a rebound off Warrick's shot in the 74th minute.

Aycock travels to North Lenoir on April 9.