A little gloomy weather did little to slow the Chattanooga Christian School girls' soccer team Tuesday night. CCS blanked host Boyd-Buchanan 5-0 behind four goals in a damp, nippy first half.
The Lady Chargers got off to a quick start, scoring just as one minute ticked by and again with seven minutes on the board. Lillie Cate handled a cross from Laura Beth Turner and deposited it into the right side of the net to start the scoring. Turner then controlled a ball near the penalty spot, turned and fired the second goal.
"They got two crosses and two scores," CCS coach Cal Sneller said. "That's hard to defend when you have good crosses coming in and someone that's just a little quicker running in the box."
CCS continued to use its speed to control the pace in the first half, pressing Boyd-Buchanan with crisp passes and dangerous crosses.
One of those crosses came from Ella Brock and found Sarah O'Shea by the left post to make it 3-0. Brock then added a goal with 24:20 to go in the half, tumbling over the goalkeeper after slipping the ball past her on an assist from Cate.
"They put a lot of pressure on us, and it took us time to adjust to their speed and technical ability," Lady Buccaneers coach Todd Ledbetter said. "We did a better job in the second half marking the runner and communicating in our defensive third. We battled more on 50-50 balls and closing space down."
Boyd-Buchanan's tweaks slowed the CCS attack just enough as the Lady Chargers scored one goal in 64 minutes after scoring four in the first 16 minutes.
"It was a little frustrating that we didn't start as quickly in the second half, but give them credit," Sneller said. "We have to figure out how to conquer teams when they pack it in with just a few up top. It took us too long."
CCS eventually did find a way to break through in the second half. Katie Davick fed a pass to Addie Henry at the top of the box, and Henry fired a laser into the back of the net.
"That was a nice, quick combo there at the end," Sneller said. "When they're packed in, you have to do quick stuff like that to get it through. I felt like we passed well tonight and created a lot of opportunities - a lot of chances to score."
The Lady Chargers held possession for most of the game and racked up 29 shots to keep the Lady Bucs on the defensive and off the scoreboard.
Contact Idris Garcia at sports@timesfreepress.com.