LAURINBURG — The Lady Scots soccer team might not have put a ‘W’ in the win column on Wednesday, but holding Jack Britt, the conference’s second best team, to three goals was a victory for the young team in the eyes of their coaches.
When the two teams met a few weeks back the Lady Buccaneers won 7-0 and were under the impression the score would be similar, if not a 9-0 mercy rule — but the Lady Scots under first year head coach Jason Eury and assistant coach Leigh Carter have steadily improved and the progress was evident.
Until the final eight minutes of Wednesday’s conference game Jack Britt had a 1-0 lead and the Lady Scots weren’t letting up in their attempts to tie things up.
“Last time we played them they beat us 7-0 since then our girls have learned what to do and we’re are playing better,” said Carter. “We’re more aggressive and we’re doing a better job of communicating and it’s showing. Our girls stepped up and played very well, we had them at 1-0 until we let two goals go in.”
Jack Britt sat in one of the nets for 15 minutes after the game as their coach tried to figure out how the one-win Lady Scots kept them in check for nearly the entire game.
The Lady Buccaneers first goal came at the 22-minute mark and instead of getting upset, Eury continued to encourage this players saying “a lot of good things ladies. You’re playing well.”
The words of encouragement never stopped as Eury made adjustments to the Lady Scots offense and defense — not getting angry or frustrated, just making sure the girls stayed focused.
The Lady Scots only gave up the one goal in the first half and for the next 33 minutes denied every attempt Jack Britt made at scoring.
The second half started with the Lady Scots making a run at the goal, but an off-sides penalty gave Jack Britt possession. Lady Scots senior goalie Ashley McGugan was busy in the net with 14 saves in the second half to keep her team in contention.
The Lady Scots had an opportunity to tie the game on a free kick from junior Sarah Eury after a penalty was called on Jack Britt. The kick was well placed by Eury, but the Jack Britt defense quickly got the ball out of the box and away from the goal.
Eury had a second penalty shot with just over 13 minutes left to play, but the kick sailed wide right of the goal.
Jack Britt scored their second goal with 7:46 left to play as the ball went right off the tips of McGugan’s gloves. The Lady Buccaneers final goal came at the 1:26 mark as they sailed one into the left corner of the net to secure the 3-0 win.
Despite incurring their sixth conference loss, Eury and Carter saw the improvement in their players and how surprised Jack Britt was that they didn’t back down.
“This was a win for us,” said Eury. “We preach to the girls — better than yesterday, better for tomorrow. All we were looking for was improvement so we could stress to the girls that we are taking those steps forward. They might be baby steps at times, but everybody has to start somewhere. Their heart was into it, they were hustling after the ball, they were beating them to the ball. Just a great showing on the field.”
The Lady Scots move to 1-7-1 overall and 1-6 in conference play while Jack Britt improves to 7-3 and 7-1 in SAC-8 play.
Scotland traveled to East Bladen on Thursday for a non-conference game. The team has next week off for spring break and when they return on April 9 they will host Purnell Swett at 5:15 p.m.
Amber Hatten-Staley can be reached at 910-506-3170 or ahatten@laurinburgexch.wpenginepowered.com.
