Gallery by Heather Belcher
A glance at the final scoreboard would indicate an easy win.
The girls soccer clash Tuesday night at Paul Cline Stadium between the Woodrow Wilson and Sissonville was far from what the final score appeared.
Scoring three goals in a seven minute span late in the second half, the Flying Eagles pulled away from the pesky Indians for a 5-2 win.
“I feel like my girls relaxed in the game at that point, but picked up their intensity. The ball movement was faster and they started hitting their targets,” Woodrow Wilson head coach Julie Agnor said. “They were playing physical enough to control the game, but not overly physical and each girl did their part. They played very unselfish and very smart in that stretch.”
With just over 18 minutes to play in a 2-2 match, all-stater Mya Wooton took a throw-in and moved into the box after splitting the defenders. Wooton then slid a beautiful ball to junior striker, Ama Ackon-Annan who found the back of the net for the eventual game winner.
It was the second goal of the match for the speedster who had battled some frustration early in the match with offside calls.
The numerous offside calls seem to bog down the Flying Eagles most of the night.
“The offside calls did bother us a little bit. I have some speedsters up top and they are anxious to run,” Agnor said. “Sometimes they forget to hold their horses. This is just the second year that Ama has played with us. She is still learning some of the ins and outs of that striker position and keeping her head on a swivel.”
The back-breaker for the visitors came just moments later when senior Sophie Hall knocked in her second goal of the match on a bizarre play to onlookers.
“It was a breakaway for Mya and the keeper came out and hit her. The keeper got the ball when Mya went down,” Hall explained. “Obviously we went to check on Mya and all of sudden the keeper throws the ball without a whistle. I put my foot on the ball and looked around. The ref said he didn’t call a foul. I shoot it and look at the ref and he said it was a goal.”
With Wooton on the ground in the box and most of the players standing, Hall’s reaction changed the entire complexion of the game.
“The crowd was yelling for a call when Mya went down. When that happened, I am not sure if the goalie thought there had been a whistle blown, but there was no whistle blown,” Agnor said. “That is why I teach my goalkeeper, when in doubt, roll it out of bounds and never let it loose in the box. It was a great heads up play by Sophie.”
Wooton would get her opportunity with 11 minutes to play on another breakaway that she drilled into the net with authority for the final score.
Zailee Roberts gave the Indians the initial lead with an early blast that was answered almost immediately on a score from Ackon-Annan.
Hall gave Woodrow Wilson its first lead when she scored off a turnover for a 2-1 lead. Hall admitted beating the Sissonville keeper was no easy task.
“I think the ball came to me off a deflection and the keeper took up a lot of the room. I placed it low into the back post and finished it,” Hall said.
Mia Simpson evened the game for Sissonville early in the second half for the Indians second goal.
“We came out pretty confident and I think Sissonville took us a little by surprise. We moved the ball phenomenally and basically controlled the entire game outside of a few lapses. The way they moved the ball tonight was dynamic. It was beautiful soccer,” Agnor said.
The Flying Eagles (2-0-1) are off until Tuesday when they host sectional rival Greenbrier East.
