Charlotte Tymon added to her vocabulary Tuesday evening, learning that scoring four goals in one game is referred to as a haul.
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The Alcoa sophomore learned by doing, scoring two goals in each half as the No. 1 seed Lady Tornadoes totally dominated No. 4 Pigeon Forge with a 7-0 shutout in opening round action of the District 2-A tournament.
Tymon was joined by Kaleea Scales, Peyton Potts and Scout Lauderback in scoring.
The win keeps an Alcoa streak alive, as the Lady Tornadoes have played in the district final every year they have competed in the A classification of TSSAA soccer. On Thursday, the Lady Tornadoes will host Gatlinburg-Pittman, 4-0 winners over Cosby in the other semifinal contest.
“I am only as good as the space I’m in and my teammates playing me the ball” Tymon said of the scoring binge. “I rely on them so much and they find my feet. It’s great when we can connect passes and work as a team.”
Alcoa was pushing into the Tigers third of the field throughout the contest, and finished with 22 shots-on-goal. Pigeon Forge had one long clearing kick that conceivably could be considered a shot-on-goal, but otherwise Lady Tornado keeper Ella Murr was never tested, with no saves and only a handful of touches other than backline clears.
The Alcoa offense and stout back line, led by Lauderback and Laine Maness, was so dominant that Murr’s first real action came with over 20 minutes already played. The junior’s first actual touch of the ball with her hands came six minutes later and even in the late minutes when Alcoa substituted heavily, her sheet and jersey both remained totally unblemished.
Pigeon Forge lost to Alcoa 8-0 during the regular season district game and the Lady Tigers clearly had a mindset of lowering the goal count, packing virtually every player in the defensive third while sending one sole striker forward.
Alcoa seniors Maness, Scales and Arien Romero were honored for their careers with pre-game recognition and all three contributed strongly to the win.
Scales scored the first goal nine minutes in on an assist from junior Wendy Beristain. Two minutes later, Romero assisted on Tymon’s first goal. The half ended with a 3-0 Alcoa advantage when Scales moved in on an outside run then sent a short cross into the goal box where Tymon buried a quick, low drive.
Romero picked up the final assist of the game in the 45th minute with a diagonal feed to Tymon who finished with a tap hitting the far net.
Potts scored less than one minute later with a high floater lofted over Tiger defenders and just eluding the leaping Pigeon Forge keeper.
Laudermilk scored on a penalty kick after a handball in the penalty area, and Tymon collected her haul by taking in a deflection and ramming in a long liner from just outside the penalty arc.
Alcoa had many other solid chances, including one penalty kick effort that Pigeon Forge keeper Elizabeth Hopkins stuffed. In addition to the 22 shots-on-goal, the Lady Tornadoes kicked many chances wide or high.
“We probably should have had a few more (goals),” Alcoa coach Shane Corley told The Daily Times. “Our finishing is better, but still has plenty of room for improvement, without a doubt.”
Corley felt that his team started slowly but developed and kept a sense of urgency, communicated well and passed quickly.
“We want to play to a shape that allows us to use all the field, as best we can. We did a pretty good job of that tonight,” Corley said. “The quicker that we can play at a fast pace and under control, which means one or two-touch soccer, we can keep defenses off balance and move the ball around a little bit. We did a pretty good job of that tonight.”