Aaron Colen, Sports Editor, Aaron.Colen@chickashanews.com
The Express-Star
MIDWEST CITY —
The Chickasha High School girls soccer team took care of business on Tuesday evening at Hampton Field against Northwest Classen, and you couldn’t help but start thinking ahead to a looming matchup with the team that handed the Lady Chicks their only loss this season.
The Lady Chicks beat Northwest Classen easily, winning 9-0 and advancing to the state quarterfinals, where they will host the Carl Albert Lady Titans on Friday night.
Chickasha didn’t know who its next opponent would be while the game was going on, and looked to be plenty focused on the task at hand. The Lady Chicks put up six goals in the first half, and never looked back.
“I told [Kelsi] Tuthill, that if we win that toss to go against the wind [in the first half],” head coach Bethany Goble said. “We told them right out of the gate to be aggressive and show them whose house they’re at.”
Kylie Williams scored three goals, while Hannah Elrod and Kelsey Taylor scored two each on the way the blowout victory, Chickasha’s third shutout in the last four games, and the fourth consecutive game in which the Lady Chicks have scored nine goals or more.
Chickasha backed off a little in the second half, part of a strategy to prepare for more skilled teams that can’t be attacked so easily offensively.
“I told them not to keep forcing it; you’ve got to play it back,” Goble said. “Because when we play other teams in the playoffs, it won’t be where we can just kick it up and have our forwards run to it. We’ve got to be able to trust in dropping it back and working our plays.”
Goble said she told her team that it doesn’t matter who they play in the next round, but she knows that the chance at revenge was in the minds of her players.
“They’re hungry for it,” Goble said. “I think any team we face will be a challenge, but nothing we can’t surpass. But they’re hungry for Carl Albert, just because that was our only loss this year.”
Chickasha will play Carl Albert on Friday night at Hampton field, with the exact time yet to be determined.
