The Patriots, 11-0, broke through in the ninth minute of the second half when Anne Brannon crossed a ball from the left wing that Ann Fields brought under control at the edge of the Jacket penalty area. The junior freed herself with a couple of touches and then deftly pushed the ball past Jacket goalkeeper Stevie Whitehead inside the right post for the 1-0 lead.
Against an opponent that was much tougher than its 2-9 record indicated, Patriot coach Lorna Martin said that she thought it showed that her team was unable to hold an outdoor practice during the week. Monday, the Patriots waltzed past Westover 11-0, Tuesday they practiced in the gym because of the weather and Wednesday they traveled to Seventy-First, but didn’t play because of the threat of lightning. Thursday’s make-up was a 10-0 victory.
“We honestly haven’t had a good practice since last week,” Martin said. “I think what we need is a good hard practice because they benefit from that. Our practices are usually harder than our games.”
The Patriots took 15 shots to none for the visitors in a first half that featured some dangerous corner kicks by Sara Cole and Fields. Whitehead twice pushed away shots from the near post and late in the half, Lauren Broderick missed an open goal after running on to a through ball from Stephanie Carter.
Two minutes after the goal by Fields, Brannon was the initiator again. This time she sent a hard ball across the goal mouth from the right side. Whitehead appeared to have it briefly, but it came loose and Broderick was there to put it away for her team-high 15th goal of the season.
In the 63rd minute, Cole came up with another loose ball in the penalty area and found the net, completing the scoring.
The Patriots finished the game with 24 shots to five for the visitors. Whitehead stopped 12 shots for the Jackets. Katelyn Burwell needed only two saves to record the Patriots’ eighth shutout of the season.
The match followed the form of the season opener against the Jackets when the Patriots broke it open with five second-half goals for a 6-0 victory.
“They have really improved,” Martin said of the Jackets. “They only lost to Apex (the state’s fourth-ranked 4-A team) 2-0. Even though their record isn’t good, it doesn’t reflect the kind of competition they face in their conference (Tri-Seven). It’s a lot tougher than ours.”
In Thursday’s victory at Seventy-First, Ann Fields and Burwell each scored a goal and contributed a pair of assists, and Anne Brannon had an assist to go with two goals. Other goal scorers were Katie Fields (two), Carter, Broderick, Brittney Dishner and Malorie Potts.
Goalkeeper Molly Hill was credited with the shutout.
Pinecrest takes a 6-0 record in the Mid-Southeastern Conference into 7 p.m. home matches on Monday and Wednesday against Douglas Byrd and Scotland County, respectively. The Scots are the only league team to score a goal on the Patriots this season.
