The McCracken County Lady Mustangs took another step in their First Region title defense on Monday night, as they opened their regional tournament campaign against the Graves County Lady Eagles. Powered by a flurry of offense midway through the second half, the Lady Mustangs earned their spot in the semifinal round with a 7-0 victory, their 12th straight win in all competition.
“I thought in the first half, we were just settling into being back in a regional game, finding our feet, and trying to figure out what they were doing against us, and ending up really figuring things out in the second half,” McCracken County head coach Mike Lane, speaking after the game. “We’re going to take what we can from this game, look ahead and get our girls in the right frame of mind going forward.”
The Lady Mustangs went on the attack straight from kickoff, pouring directly into Graves’ half. The first chance came just seconds into the half, as a shot in close from a tough angle was turned aside, resulting in a goal kick.
McCracken kept the heat on the Lady Eagles’ goal early, not waiting too long after the early opportunity to find their way onto the scoreboard. With 32:45 on the clock, a pass turned into the middle from Makenzie Burgett was collected by Kiera Tynes, who fired into the back of the net to give the Lady Mustangs a 1-0 edge.
Keeping the majority of the possession towards the midway point of the half, McCracken would double their lead with 24 minutes to play, as Maddy Ledgerwood would receive a pass from Ava Englert near the edge of the box, turning and putting a shot on target. Initially striking the post, Ledgerwood’s shot would ricochet across the line for a 2-0 lead.
Though the Lady Mustangs would sustain their pressure through the remainder of the half, the Lady Eagle defense would hold up in their attempt to keep the score in check, as the hosts would be kept quiet through the back half of the first, taking a 2-0 lead into the half.
Early in the second half, the Lady Eagles were again on their heels, taking on pressure from McCracken’s attack across. With Graves to find much possession outside of their own half, the Lady Mustangs finally broke through for their third, as Ashlynn Blackwell put McCracken up 3-0 just past the ten minute mark of the second. From there, the floodgates opened for the hosts, as in just a matter of minutes the lead ballooned to six goals, with Blackwell completing her brace in between goals from Burgett and Katelyn Heider.
“We made a couple adjustments, we were moving some girls around, trying to find some speed where we weren’t getting it before. Just a couple of small changes to get ourselves more open,” Lane said on any second half adjustments. “We really didn’t want to change what we’ve been doing, change what’s gotten us here, we just needed to make a tweak or two.
Working with a commanding lead, the Lady Mustangs added one more tally down the stretch through Audrey Estes, cruising into the regional semifinals with a 7-0 win.
“I thought we finished the game well. Once we were able to build that lead, we were able to rest our starters and get our younger girls some minutes, which definitely helps us going forward,” Lane continued.
Advancing onto the semifinal round, the Lady Mustangs will face off with a familiar adversary, when they meet the Marshall County Lady Marshals.
“I think everyone’s looking forward to the rematch,” Lane concluded. “We know Marshall’s always going to come out strong, and we’ll need to be ready for them.”
Kickoff between the Lady Mustangs and Lady Marshals is set for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday night at Murray High School.