GATLINBURG – Saturday’s early morning contest began terribly for Chuckey-Doak, but the final 75 minutes were and exhibition in precise passing and overwhelming pressure that turned into a dominating win.
The Lady Black Knights throttled East Robertson 9-1 on their way to winning the Mt. Sterling Division of the Smoky Mountain Cup.
“I was very concerned about a 9 AM game, but maybe we need to play all of our games in the morning,” Chuckey-Doak coach Anna Ricker said. “After the first five minutes it was a really solid game. Everyone contributed, we were clicking well with a lot of passes and good movement. Overall, front to back it was a good game.”
Saturday’s action could not have started any worse for the Lady Black Knights as on the first play of the morning keeper Sarah Yates was called for touching the ball outside of the box and the Lady Indians quickly put in a direct kick that put them up 1-0.
That was the last thing that went East Robertson’s way on Saturday.
Chuckey-Doak’s offense took over and had the Lady Indians on their heels the rest of the day. The equalizing goal came in the 16th minute when Khloe Knight took a touch on the right side of the box to work a defender and then powered a 10-yard shot past the keeper.
The shots kept coming and in the 26th minute Chuckey-Doak took the lead. Khloe Henderson sent a long pass ahead from the midfield and Kati Surber let a shot fly from the top of the 18-yard box that she pinned inside the left post.
“Years ago we had a motto of ‘if they score one, we score two.’ We’re trying to bring that back,” Ricker said. “We’ve tried to establish that mentality that when they score early its ok, we just have to go out and get it back. We just have to keep that never-die attitude, 80 minutes is long game and we just have to keep playing.”
In the 30th minute Chuckey-Doak was awarded a penalty kick after a handball in the box. Caitlin Larsen sent it to the upper left corner of the frame for a 3-1 advantage that lasted until halftime.
In the second half playing in their own defensive third began to wear on the Lady Indians and Chuckey-Doak’s quick ball movement had them chasing until the final horn.
The first of six second-half goals came in the 45th minute. Kenley Merriam dribbled around defenders until she found a window she liked and rocketed a shot at the frame. A Lady Indian touched it, but not enough to knock the shot off course.
In the 50th minute Larsen sent a corner kick into the box. Betsie Ramirez got the first touch but East Robertson kept it out of the frame. The ball stayed in the danger zone and Brianne Bowen put the right touch on it in traffic to push the lead to 5-1.
Two minutes later Larsen made a run up the right side and charged toward the netting. She pulled up wide of the frame and sent pass across the framer that Ramirez ran to perfectly. With the goalie spinning Ramirez pounded the ball home for a 6-1 advantage.
Merriam scored again in the 56th minute when she slipped a penalty kick under the crossbar.
In the 59th minute Larsen made another hard run into the box from the right side and lasered a shot past the face of the keeper inside the left upright.
Knight wrapped up the scoring in the 73rd minute when she let a shot fly from the edge of the 18-yard box for her second goal of the morning.
Chuckey-Doak used six different scorers on Saturday with Knight, Larsen, and Merriam all scoring twice.
“The movement was there today, the passing was there, you can’t ask for more than that. We’re starting to see each other, we’re starting to get our timing. Now we just have to keep doing it,” Ricker said.
After giving up a quick goal Chuckey-Doak’s back end had a relaxed outing as the ball stayed on the Lady Knights’ end of the field for almost the entire contest.
Chuckey-Doak finished the tournament on Saturday afternoon with a 2-0 win over Stone Memorial. Ramirez headed in the first goal on a corner kick from Larsen. Brown scored the second goal on a through ball from Henderson.
“This tournament is important for establishing camaraderie early in the year. I want them come together as a family. Then of course I want to see strong soccer against different competition that we won’t see again,” Ricker said.
