Morgan Jones broke a scoreless tie in the second half, and Republic went on to a 3-0 victory on a chilly night at home against Rogersville Thursday. The Lady Tigers dominated possession for most of the game, and when the ball did get into the Republic backfield, defender Lesleigh Fenton was there to clean it up.
The Lady Tigers had several scoring chances in the first half, but couldn’t get the ball in the net. That all changed when Kaytlin Pearce took a deflection and slipped the ball left to right across the box to a waiting Jones, who put it in the back of the net.
“We were slow in the first half, but second half, we knew we had to turn it on,” says Jones. “The ball came over the face of the goal, and I was just there to finish it.”
The Lady Tigers were solid in both the front and back, giving the Wildcats few chances to score. When Rogersville did break through and gain possession in the midfield, Fenton focused on pushing the Rogersville forward to her left, where she was more likely to make a mistake with the ball.
“That makes my job easy — making them make a mistake. I can watch what touches she makes, and when she makes that off touch, I just step on it and take it,” Fenton says.
For Fenton, the hardest part of a game like Thursday’s, when Republic dominates possession up front, is staying focused in the back.
“Sometimes I get on my heels, then it comes through and I’m like, ‘Oh, I have to do something; thanks guys,'” Fenton says. “It makes my job pretty boring. That’s good, but I like those games where (possession) is more even.”
Carpenter scored the Lady Tigers’ second goal when she took a pass in the middle of the box and drilled it past the goalie from about five yards out. It was the fourth goal of the season for Carpenter, who had a hat trick in the opener.
Griffith made it 3-0 on an assist by Emily Jordan, scoring from eight yards out with just under three minutes remaining.
The Lady Tigers improve to 2-0 this season, with a road game at New Covenant Academy in Springfield scheduled for Friday.