Girls Soccer: GRC cruises to second straight district title

Published 12:01 am Thursday, October 12, 2017

MOUNT STERLING — The George Rogers Clark High School girls soccer team locked up its second straight 39th District title Wednesday night.

The Cardinals topped host Montgomery County, 5-1, just two days after demolishing Paris, 10-0, to bring home the district trophy.

It took a while to get the offense going Wednesday. The Cards out-possessed the Indians, but scored the only first-half goal on a free kick from Delaney Manning.

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“A lot of that is on Montgomery County,” GRC coach Matthew Abner said. “They came ready to play. We played well. We did have some bad touches at times, but overall, I thought we played well in the first half, Montgomery just did a good job defending us.”

The tone changed in the second half, as the constant pressure finally broke through. Eight minutes in the second half, Allie Bush scored off a Leslie Hernandez assist.

Five minutes later, it was 3-0 after Bush knocked in a deflected shot from Manning. The Indians threatened to get on the board on a free kick on the GRC side of the field, but keeper Laura Martin smothered it. Two minutes later, Shannon Ramey made it 4-0 off an assist from Bush.

With three minutes left to play, Carlie Fike struck one past the Montgomery keeper for a 5-0 lead. The Indians got their score in the final 40 seconds.

“In the second half, we were to wear them down a little bit and get something through and score,” Abner said. “That’s what we were hoping for.”

The district title gives the Cardinals a leg up in next week’s region tournament, too. GRC will host the tournament and go in as a higher seed in the bracket.

“Campbell and some of the other top teams in the region will have to come play on grass instead of playing on turf so that’s a big difference when you play team that usually plays on turf all the time,” Abner said.

In the first-round game, the Cardinals made short work of Paris. They got three goals from Hernandez, two from Manning and one each from Allie Bush, Haily Bush, Meaghan Curren, Paiton Marcum and Ramey. Allie Bush had a pair of assists, as did Taylor Kelly. Curren, Mann, Ramey, Kasey Embry, Haley Hannan and Julia Pohl also had assists. Martin and Brooklyn Johnson combined on the shutout.

“District championships aren’t just handed to you,” Abner said. “You have to go win them. So you’re always pleased when you have the opportunity to do that.”

2017 All-District Team

Paris: Laurel Gibson.

Montgomery: Baylee Dice, Abby Manning.

Bourbon: Molly Cummins, Kennedy Hensley, Katelyn Whitaker.

GRC: Shannon Ramey, Meaghan Curren, Allie Bush, Haley Hannan.

2017 All-Tournament Team

Paris: Jazmin Jackson.

Bourbon: Mollu Cummins.

Montgomery: Kayleen Coburn, Savana Wise.

GRC: Taylor Kelly, Delaney Manning, Leslie Hernandez.