Midway’s girls soccer team welcomed the Lakewood Leopards into Spivey’s Corner on Friday night for their first match-up of the season. Cashing in on a solid performance, the Lady Raiders improved their record, posting a 5-0 shutout.
Emily Williams led Midway with one goal and one assist. Anna Apperson, Manasia Cobb, Maribel Saucedo-Farkis, and Kasey McLamb also each contributed one goal.
Midway controlled the game from the start, applying early pressure, and giving themselves several scoring opportunities.
The first goal came with 36:07 left in the first half. Anna Apperson fired a shot that deflected off the goal tenders hands and into the net for the 1-0 lead.
Midway continued to apply pressure and would pick up their second goal of the game off of the foot of Manasia Cobb. With 27:00 left in the first half, Cobb took a pass from Emily Williams and found the back of the net to extend the Lady Raider lead to 2-0.
Midway came right back, notching another goal with 22:19 left in the first, this time by senior Maribel Saucedo-Farkis, her first goal as a Lady Raider.
“She’s worked extremely hard for three years” Raider head coach Trey Apperson said, commending Saucedo-Farkis on her first goal.
The first half would come to an end with Midway boasting a 3-0 lead.
In the second half, things went from bad to worse for the visiting Lady Leopards. With 39:18 left in the game, Midway attacker Olivia Davis was tackled in the box prompting a penalty kick. Kasey McLamb fired the kick past the goal tender and into the net. The lead was now 4-0.
Midway’s final goal would come only a 1:04 later. With 38:18 left in the game, Emily Williams found the back of the net to bring the final tally to 5-0.
After the game, head coach Trey Apperson praised the chemistry his team played withFriday.
“We played a good game. We played as a team with a lot of players getting a lot of minutes,” he said. “We brought several of our JV players up tonight and everyone seemed to mesh well together. It didn’t matter who we were putting on the field or what position they were playing, they all came together”.
He was also pleased with his team’s performance, especially in the second half. “We had some really nice moments, particularly at the start of the second half, getting those first two goals real quick. It was just a good all-around win.”
With the win, Midway remains unbeaten and improves their record to 4-0. They’re back in action on Monday night at 6pm when they host East Bladen in a conference opener.
For Lakewood, the Lady Leopards fall to 1-3 overall. They are set to return to action on Thursday when the host Rosewood. That game is also set for 6 p.m.