The split has the Vikings sitting at 3-1 in Tri-County Conference play and 8-2-1 overall. They begin a critical stretch of six league matches in a two-week period with a home contest against Southeast Guilford at 6:30 p.m. on Monday.
Midway through the first half at Trinity, the Vikings’ Ashley Wahl picked the pocket of a Bulldog defender and scored a goal that held up until the last two minutes of the match. Allison Byrd tied it up at that point for the Bulldogs with a free kick from about 40 yards out. Then with about 30 seconds remaining, Lauren Burns connected with the game-winner for the home team.
Viking coach Chris Hadlock barely mentioned the tough loss to his team before the next night's match at Asheboro.
“I changed our warm-up because we were a little flat yesterday,” he said. “We played full-field 11 versus 7 and did that well. That seemed to get us into our patterns early. They were a lot more focused tonight.”
Following a nice build-up in the 29th minute, Wahl took the ball almost to the right corner flag and found Jamie Snell open at the top of the penalty circle. Snell unloaded with her second touch, knocking the ball off the far post and into the net.
About 12 minutes into the second half, Wahl made it 2-0 off a direct kick from about 25 yards away. It was the senior’s 16th goal of the season and the 128th of her Viking career. A few minutes later, Snell ran on to a loose ball in the Comet penalty area and buried it to complete the scoring.
In a game that the Vikings outshot their opponent 21-7, goalkeeper Jessica Puszynski recorded three saves and her fourth shutout of the season.
