LAURINBURG — It was a race against time to get the Lady Scots soccer home opener in against Jack Britt as the winds picked up and ominous clouds rolled in Wednesday.
The varsity team bumped the JV game from their time slot, getting underway just before 5:30, in order to make sure they got the game in before the severe weather hit. With such a short season non-conference make-up games often fall by the wayside if they aren’t played as scheduled.
Jack Britt got off to a blistering start during Wednesday’s game scoring six unanswered goals in the first 15 minutes of the game. The Lady Buccaneers slowed their scoring pace in the final 20 minutes of the game, but still managed to score 10 goals to end the game at halftime.
In high school soccer, boys and girls, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association has a nine-goal rule. If either team is losing by nine goals or more by halftime or at any point in the second half then the game is called.
It was the second time this week the Lady Scots have lost by nine or more goals. On Tuesday, the Lady Scots opened with a trip to Union Pines, where they lost 9-0 in the second half. Wednesday saw the Lady Scots fall to Jack Britt in the first half, 10-0.
It’s a rough start for a young team, that features 10 sophomores, but one second-year head coach Abbi Marsh knew her team would encounter at some point. As Marsh said before the team’s first scrimmage, “we’re building from the ground up, so even though it’s my second year we still have a long way to go.”
There were several times during Wednesday’s game against Jack Britt that the Lady Scots youth was evident, with too many players in the box and not enough people moving with the ball, which allowed Jack Britt to score what seemed like at will.
Leading the scoring for the Lady Buccaneers was junior Callie Creech with six goals, followed by Lainey Borresen with three and Faith Sprague with one.
The Lady Scots move to 0-2 on the season and Jack Britt improves to 3-0.
The Lady Scots have the rest of the week off and return to the pitch on Tuesday, March 7 with a trip to Cape Fear before hosting Norfolk Christian on Friday, March 10 to close out the week.
Amber Hatten can be reached at 910-506-3170.