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Magnolia Lady Booters Struggle To Get First Win

By Staff | Oct 13, 2008

Bruce Crawford, Head Coach of Magnolia High School’s Girls’ Soccer Team, has been scratching his head, searching for the right pieces. The Lady Eagles continue to struggle on offense, scoring one goal against Indian Creek Sept. 22 and no goals on Sept. 24 against the Lady Monarchs of John Marshall.

“We have been having a rough go of it right now,” Crawford explained, “We are struggling to score goals and still searching for the right combination on offense. A few of our injured starters should return in the next couple days and hopefully, it should give us more depth and flexibility.”

Against Indian Creek, MHS scored early in the first half on a nice pass from senior Sarah Culley to freshman Dallas Mullett who drilled her fifth goal of the season. It was Mullett’s first score in more than a week and Culley’s first assist of the season.

The offense went to sleep from this point and never challenged much for the duration. Junior first-time soccer player Alli Childers was strong at goal and kept the Indians from scoring the rest of the first half with several key saves. Childers claimed 17 saves for the game.

At halftime, Magnolia moved some Lady Eagles out of their comfort zones to rejuvenate the offense and keep their defense on their toes. However, a quick injury to stellar defender Ashley Villers hindered what Crawford wanted to achieve and another shifting of position was needed.

Magnolia wobbled on quite a few Indian Creek offensive spurts and a goal late in the game tied the score at 1-1. To help assure at least a tie, Crawford changed to a defensive strategy that required moving a strong offensive player to the other side of the ball to keep Indian Creek in check.

Although the Indians had several good scoring opportunities on two penalty kick, but Childers blocked both of them to bring the tie game to a conclusion.

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Against John Marshall, Magnolia lost its head coach to a shoulder injury before the game even started and the game proceeded under Assistant Coach Sarah Bohrer.

The Lady Eagles gave an extremely good performance and Childers again knocked down several Monarch scoring opportunities. However, it was not enough and Marshall carried away the victory 5-0.

Although Magnolia didn’t get many chances on the offensive side, there was a defensive rally that Bohrer hopes will extend to the remainder of the season. “I really feel like we are going to finish strong,” said Bohrer. “The younger, inexperienced girls are improving. We also are finding out what position is best for our players and what lineup is best for scoring – and winning.

“Coach Crawford and I believe that we are starting to mature and are working to get everybody on the same page. I think we will taste victory a few times before the season comes to a close.”

Magnolia will try to get its first win of the season in a return engagement with Indian Creek on Saturday, Oct. 4. That contest gets under at 1 p.m. at Magnolia’s new soccer/softball complex, Howard Jeffers Drive in New Martinsville, across from Wal-Mart.