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Tunstall blanks Carlisle 6-0
Trojans' Carrington Atkins scores four goals
Carlisle’s Virginia Zentmeyer (right) tries to block a shot from Tunstall’s Kara Dafin (5) in the first half of Tunstall’s 6-0 win Tuesday in Dry Fork. Dafin had an assist in the game. (Bulletin photo by Chris Pride)
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
By CHRIS PRIDE - Bulletin Sports Writer
The Tunstall girls soccer team had to weather a stiff wind in the first half on its home turf Tuesday against Carlisle in a non-district match. And with a pair of goals in the first half —inside the opening five and closing five minutes — the Trojans did all right at accomplishing their goal.
Then with the wind at Tunstall’s back in the second half, there was little the Carlisle defense could do to stop the Trojans’ Carrington Atkins from running wild.
The junior scored the final three goals of a four-goal second half as Tunstall opened up its halftime lead with a torrid offensive display over the final 40 minutes of a 6-0 win in Dry Fork. It was Carrington’s goal in the 39th minute that Tunstall head coach Marc Parrish said made the difference.
“The first goal is always big and we were on the edge of a couple of opportunities in the first half that we didn’t finish, so to get that second goal before the half ended was really big,” Parrish said. “Our passing was excellent in the second half. Our wing play was able to spread out their defense.”
The Trojans (3-0) not only scored on their first shot of the match in the 3rd minute, but scored on their first two shots of the second half to put the game out of reach. Junior Ali Wiles, who scored the opening goal on a loose ball stemming from a corner kick, notched her second goal of the game, also off a corner kick, in the 43rd minute. Three minutes later, Atkins slid home a one-touch shot on a cross from Sarah Shirey to the back post for a 4-0 lead.
“It was little things that we work on in practice all the time and then when you see these things work in a game it really makes you feel good,” Parrish said. “We scored directly off a corner in each half. That’s something we work on all the time, and that really pleased me.”
Atkins’ goal just before the end of the first half was a bender from outside the left corner of the penalty box, carefully tucked just inside the far post. And for as well-executed as that shot looked, her tally in the 56th minute on a clean volley off another cross from the left wing left Parrish equally impressed.
“That goal would’ve definitely been my favorite, considering I’ve been working on my one-touch from crosses and getting better at those,” Atkins said. “The one at the end of the first half also felt really good to rip into the upper-90. Our wing players work really well with our forwards to find crosses and space in the box.”
Atkins later capped the scoring in the 67th minute on another volley from just outside the top of the six-yard box. She said it felt good to get her first goals of the season in her first year of playing high school soccer.
“I’ve played soccer since I was seven, and in eighth grade, I got brought into softball and I realized last year that it just wasn’t for me and that I really missed soccer,” Atkins said, “so decided to come back.”
All four Tunstall goals came off of crosses or a corner from the left wing. Carlisle (0-1) head coach Tanya Crehan addressed her team at halftime about doing a better job in the second half of staying with their marks and not allowing space in the box.
But within a few minutes of the start of the second, Tunstall scored two goals on missed marks.
“The last two minutes of the first half was a little lack of focus and it was a great shot. We didn’t step out to the ball and Tunstall’s a good team,” Crehan said. “The ball in the second half was completely coming right down our throats and we just didn’t react like we should have in getting the ball out.
“We really need to go back to the drawing board on corners and work on sticking with our marks and where they’re making runs.”
Senior Carlisle goalkeeper Caroline Jordan was busy in net and helped limit the damage in the first half. She made a total of 11 saves — a few diving to either side in each half. She stopped eight of Tunstall’s 14 shots in the second half.
The Trojans registered 21 shots in the match, with 17 of them on target. The defense, meanwhile, allowed just one shot, coming in the first half from outside the box.
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