Published: April 16, 2008 03:20 pm            

East kicks West in twin bill

GRAYSON -- It was a cross-county soccer twin bill battle Monday night and the clubs from East Carter Middle School scored the series sweep from their kicking counterparts from West Carter.

The girls from Grayson kicked things off with a 6-0 win and the ECMS boys claimed a 10-0 triumph.

Leading 2-0 at the break, the Lady Raiders went up by three goals at 28:46 in the second half. A pair of goals in at the 3:00-minute mark in the second deflated the West Carter defense and sent the surging East Carter club onto the win. Kelsie Mullins floated the final scoring strike over the Lady Warrior keeper with just seconds to play for the 6-0 final.

“We passed the ball like we’re supposed to,” ECMS player Kallie Moore told The Journal-Times of Head Coach Travanna Skeens’ Lady Raiders’ execution. “We work on it before the games and we work on it every day at practice, too.”

West Carter’s Stevie Tackett said her team’s effort early on kept things close.

“Our forwards were working the ball and our defense kept up the pressure,” Tackett said. “But we sort of gave up once we started losing, we’re not supposed to do that – but East is a good team.”

Raven Kelley booted the three-goal hat trick for the Lady Raiders and Alexa Sturgill had two scores. Mullins tacked on the final goal of the game. East keepers Laken Moore and Melissa Langstaff combined for three saves in the Lady Raider net.

The rivalry between the schools adds to the excitement, according to the players.

“Playing against your rival always makes it more exciting,” East’s Kara Blevins said. “And we knew they could come back on us when we were only up 2-0 at halftime. So we stepped it up. It was really good we could score like that.”

In spite of the loss, the Lady Warriors said they are improving with each practice and game.

“We’re still trying to work on getting the ball down the field and we’re working on our teamwork,” Shelby Logan of West Carter said. “Mainly we’re trying to play good on offense.”

In the boys’ game, East got on the board at 26:49 from 20-yards out and from then on it was all Raider offense. The guys from Grayson picked up their first win of the season with the 10-0 decision.

“We’ve been working a lot on our passing, too,” East’s Tyler Walker said prior to the contest. “We’ve been making a lot of bad passes so far this season and that’s been hurting us.”

Raider keeper Kasin Burnett said even with the 0-1-1 record heading into the matchup with West, the East players had seen improvement over last season.

“I think we’re already doing great as a team and everyone’s working together,’ Burnett said. “Not any negativity, everything’s positive.”

Dalton Gifford and Zach Vincent each scored hat tricks for the Raiders and Quinn Huddle punched in a pair of scores. Joey Fisher and T.J. Layne (penalty kick) each finished with one goal.

Members of the 2008 girls’ and boys’ middle school soccer teams from East Carter and West Carter:

•East Carter Middle School

Girls’ Soccer Roster

Kara Blevins, Abby Clay, Raven Kelley, Laken Moore, Kelsie Mullins, Erin Randall, Gabby Rogers, Sarah Slone, Jessi Spillman, Madison Tackett, Taylor Burnett, Haleigh Carter, Alexa Sturgill, Amber Hall, Ashley McDowell, Amanda Justus, Kendall McGlone, Kallie Moore, Jennifer Adams, Kady Chaffin, Lexie Cline, Ryan Conley, Chelsea Hall, Melissa Langstaff, Kamryn McGlone, Clarissa Nelson.

•East Carter Middle School

Boys’ Soccer Roster

Blake Flannery, Tanner Greene, Levi Kiser, Tyler Walker, Ethan Withrow, Kasin Burnett, Aaron Chambless, Dalton Gifford, Quinn Huddle, T J Layne, Kyle Moreland, William Sutterfield, Jonathan Wells, Zach Vincent, Shawn Brown, Joey Fischer, Izak Flannery, Dustin Sexton, Ryan Walker.

•West Carter Middle School

Lady Warriors Soccer Roster

Alex Tackett, Brooke Barker, Chasity Reeves, Chelsea Barker, Emily Jordan, Jacklyn Parker, Jenna Hammond, KaLeigh Underwood, Krista Reynolds, Nikki Cline, Shelby Logan, Stevie Tackett, Abigail Hicks, Amber Buckley, Beth Travis, Julia Duncan, Tayla Steele, Hayley Carroll, Gabrielle Bond, Haley Gonzalez, Hallie Barker, Emily Baker, Kellie Hedge, Destiny Tomlin.

•West Carter Middle School

Boys’ Soccer Roster

Josh Flannery, Dylan P’simer, Blake Taylor, Matthew Patrick, Tyler Glover, Austin Henderson, John Johnson, Chris Kilgore, Allen McClurg, Jacob Menix, T.J. Brickles, Cody James, Nathan Menix, Taylor Pierce, Trevor P’simer.

        

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