West Lauderdale soccer squads shut out Clarkdale girls, boys

By By Tony Krausz / assistant sports editor
Jan. 21, 2004
West Lauderdale picked up a pair of shutout victories over Clarkdale in boys' and girls' soccer on Tuesday night.
The Knights improved to 16-1 overall and 8-0 in division play with a 6-0 win over the Bulldogs (4-10, 2-5). The Lady Knights (12-4-3, 6-0) notched a 5-0 victory in the opening game of the evening over the Lady Bulldogs (8-5, 2-4) at Clarkdale.
With the losses, both Clarkdale squads were eliminated from playoff contention. It was the final game of the year for the Lady Bulldogs, and the Bulldogs conclude their season at home Friday against Philadelphia.
Though West's boys' team tallied six goals in the win, the Knights struggled to put shots on goal against the Bulldogs.
West sent 22 shots wide of Clarkdale's net, with many shots going over the top of the net. Of the Knights first three shots of the game, two went over the top and one shot was straight at Bulldogs goalkeeper Blake Johnson.
The Knights were able to settle down enough in the first half to score a pair of goals for a 2-0 lead at the break.
West winger Matthew Thomas punched in the first goal at the eight-minute mark dribbling in from the end line to slip a shot past Clarkdale's keeper.
Christopher Rodgers scored the second goal of the game for the Knights, reigning in a botched clearing attempt by the Bulldogs and scoring from the top of the box in the game's 37th minute.
The 29 minutes between goals came in part from the Knights shooting wide and trying to be too creative inside the Bulldogs' goal box. West players consistently passed the ball to each other inside the box instead of shooting.
Clarkdale's goalkeeper also had a bit to do with West's low goal total in a game the visiting team dominated. Johnson stopped 26-of-31 shots in the match.
West was able to generate four goals in the second half, with three coming off the foot of Zach Chisolm.
The sophomore midfielder scored goals in the 45th, 60th and 70th minutes of the game for the hat trick.
Ross McWilliams also knocked in a goal for the Knights in the second half off an assist by Thomas in the 62nd minute. Scott Truesdale picked up the win in net for West, recording five saves.
West Lauderdale (girls) 5
Clarkdale 0
The Lady Knights punched in two goals in the opening four minutes of the second half to seal their win over the Lady Bulldogs.
Kylie Rowell scored the first goal of the second half for West, which ended the first half with a 3-0 advantage. Rowell hit the ball into the left side of the net off Rachel Reeves' crossing pass from the right side of the Lady Bulldogs' goal box.
The Lady Knights struck again with a crossing pass leading to a goal in at the 44-minute mark with Brook Bounds hitting Brittany Uhl with a pass inside the Lady Bulldogs' goal box. Uhl tallied a goal off Bounds' pass to produce the game's final margin.
Rowell tallied West's first goal after receiving a pass from a corner kick by Uhl. Rowell's goal came two minutes into the contest.
Reeves picked up the Lady Knights' second goal scoring on an indirect kick at the top of the Lady Bulldogs' goal box, Rowell touched the ball to Reeves for the goal. Clarkdale keeper Sabrina Woodall, who stopped 15-of-20 shots, was called for holding the ball too long giving West the indirect kick.
Auburn Carlberg finished the scoring in the first half for West with a goal into the right corner of the net for a 3-0 lead in the game's 34th minute.
Lady Knights goalkeeper Emmy Joyner picked up the shutout win stopping six shots in the win.
The West girls' and boys' teams will close the regular season with games at home against Laurel. The Lady Knights will begin the evening of soccer at 6:00.