One night after dropping a 1-0 defensive struggle at 4A Hoggard the Lady Dark Horses returned home on Tuesday to host Union in a Four County Conference match that quickly turned into an offensive explosion for the home team. Scoring five goals in the first eight minutes of play the Lady Dark Horses ran away from Union, shutting down the Lady Spartans 9-0 in the forty second minute of the match.

The Lady Spartans probably knew it was going to be a tough night when Clinton’s Halla Gilpin took a pass from Elizabeth Coleman and hammered in the Lady Dark Horses first goal of the match at the 0:42 mark. Clinton wasted little time building on their lead when Reagan Barefoot, assisted by Alaina Capps, sent the second Lady Dark Horse score in the Spartan goal at the 1:04 mark. Barefoot would strike again in less than two minutes when she took a pass from Ashlyn Williams and shot it into the goal at the 2:54 mark to give Clinton a 3-0 lead.

The Lady Spartans seemed dazed and confused as they yielded two more quick goals, one by Alaina Capps, unassisted at 4:22 and the second by Ashylyn Williams off a free kick at the 7:58 mark to lift the Lady Dark Horses to a 5-0 lead. With Clinton substituting freely, the Lady Spartans were able to catch their breath and hold the Lady Horses at bay for a few minutes, turning back several Clinton scoring attempts.

Clinton got the offense back in gear again before the half when Shakira Oseguera stole a Union pass deep in the Lady Spartans end of the field and quickly turned the miscue into an unassisted goal at the 25:11 mark to run the lead to 6-0. Halla Gilpin then picked up her second goal of the match when she took a pass from Ashlyn Williams and headed the ball just inside the near post to give Clinton a 7-0 advantage.

Clinton took the 7-0 lead into the half and came out refreshed for the second half looking to close out the Lady Spartans early. Ashlyn Williams scored just twenty three seconds into the half off a Reagan Barefoot assist and Elizabeth Coleman banged in a close range shot off a Halla Gilpin pass to put an early end to the contest at the 42:31 mark.

After the game, Clinton head coach, Jeff Smith said “this was a good win for us after a tough loss to a big 4A school. This was a nice way to rebound from that game and hopefully improve our playoff seed. That is really what it is about in the three games we have left, just improving our playoff seed.”

The win over Union runs Clinton’s record to 15-5 overall and 11-0 in Four County Conference play. The Lady Dark Horses travel to West Bladen on Friday night for another conference match. Union, now 6-9 overall and 2-8 in conference play will return to action on Thursday when they play host to conference foe Pender.

Reach Mike Carter at [email protected]

By Mike Carter

Sports Writer