GIRLS' SOCCER: Cougars dominate Wallace-Rose Hill

By Justin Hayes
Published in Sports on March 23, 2017 9:59 AM

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Win the day. Decisively.

Such was the mindset of the Goldsboro High varsity girls' soccer outfit on Wednesday, who tendered a dominant-in-all-phases, 6-0 trouncing of non-conference foe Wallace-Rose Hill.

But the conquest -- which redeemed a subpar effort earlier in the week versus county foe Eastern Wayne -- took a while to develop.

Fast, loose and aggressive from the outset, GHS played with abandon along the touchlines and sought advantage everywhere on the pitch -- a work rate that yielded tremendous early shot volume, but little else.

"We played the first 20 minutes like we played the last 10 versus Eastern Wayne," said GHS head coach Chad Lewis. "It just kind of carried over."

Until the 25th minute, that is.

Senior striker Angelina Nacca knifed through the box to gain control of a discombobulated corner kick, then fired through a dense crowd in front of goal -- a blast that was deflected, deflected again and ultimately registered as an "own" goal for Wallace-Rose Hill.

With that, the Goldsboro run-out commenced.

Sophomore forward Shakia Doctor scored on a nifty one-timer in the 34th minute, and was followed in short order by classmate Abi Lewis, who closed the half by connecting on a penalty kick roughly a minute later.

In a blink, Goldsboro held a 3-0 advantage.

"It was like a ping-pong match for while," Lewis said of the opening stanza. "But they got back into the form they'd been in previously."

The second half featured more of the same.

GHS forward Taironnicia Davis scored just three minutes into the second period, making the score 4-0 and the outcome academic. Her goal, which brought a rousing cheer from the GHS bench area, prompted a different reaction from Wallace-Rose Hill, however.

Attitudes became prominent.

Tempers flared.

Over the next 20 minutes, the Bulldogs were assessed two yellow cards and a red card -- the last of which developed on a brazen, for-all-the-world-to-see foul on Goldsboro's Rylie Hales as she prepared to take a free kick in the 50th minute.

After the dust settled, the Lady Cougars again found their pace and went back to work -- specifically Doctor, who finished the affair by recording a hat trick (three goals), which included goals in the 52nd and 63rd minute.

All things considered, a proper reply from Monday's debacle.

"I think their confidence got hurt Monday, and they just hadn't built it back up yet... it took us a while to get back in rhythm."

Now 7-1-2 on the season, the Lady Cougars play host to James Kenan on Friday.