Quick footwork and a persistent offense led the McCracken County Lady Mustangs soccer team to a 12-0 victory over Paducah Tilghman in the First District Championship game Monday night. While 80 minutes were allotted for the contest, only 40 were needed as the Lady Mustangs scored quickly and frequently to enact the mercy rule at halftime.
Out of the 12 goals scored, six different Lady Mustangs claimed at least one goal to contribute to the win. Maddie Ledgerwood led the scoring with a hat trick, including the goal to start the night off. Ashlyn Blackwell added two of her own alongside Savannah McDowell, Ava Englert and Kiera Tynes, with Katelyn Heider adding one more.
“I’m very proud of these girls,” McCracken County head coach Michael Lane said. “We’ve been practicing our different runs and trying to spread the ball all over the pitch and they did that tonight. I think this is the best we’ve played against Tilghman all year as far as moving ball and getting everyone some minutes in the game.”
Within the first 10 minutes of play the Lady Mustangs were able to rack up a 7-0 lead. Keeping the ball on their offensive half of the field for most of the night made for quick scores including goals from McDowell and Blackwell knocking a pair in just 20 seconds apart.
“The ball was moving side-to-side, up and down and we were creating runs not only around where the ball was, but also in other areas of the field,” Lane said.
Despite the scoring frenzy, Tilghman keeper Chayse Minter had several big saves that halted the Lady Mustangs scoring, at least for a moment. In total, McCracken County tallied 25 shots on goal, while Tilghman found just two opportunities.
Reflecting on the 12 years of district success the Lady Mustangs have witnessed, the last four under the leadership of Coach Lane — he says he’s optimistic of where the program can continue to go.
“This is a strong program that is still growing,” Lane said. “To me, we aren’t where we want to be right now, but we have great aspirations to get there and looking down the line, we have a great incoming class that will be able to step into the shoes of some of these seniors. I’m excited about it, but I’m even more excited about trying to finish the ride that we’re on right now.”
Both the Lady Mustangs and Lady Blue Tornado will have to wait a few days to see who they will match up first with in the First Region tournament. McCracken will take on the runners-up of the second district while Tilghman will play the champions of the second district. The Second District championship will take place on Thursday, October 10 and the First Region tournament will begin next Monday.