Hillsboro defends home field with 3-goal shutout win over rival McClain
Hillsboro's Mati Vaughn (left) competes against McClain's Kayleigh Scott on Tuesday at HHS. (HCP Photo/Stephen Forsha)
HILLSBORO — Scoring one goal in the first half, plus two more goals in the second half, the Hillsboro Lady Indians defended their home field against a Highland County rival, the McClain Lady Tigers, as HHS won with a 3-0 victory at Hillsboro High School.
The duo of senior Arianna Evans and junior Ella Jordan combined to score all three goals, with Evans scoring one goal in each half, while Jordan’s goal came in the second half.
Evans gave Hillsboro a 1-0 lead with 33:37 left in the first half, as that score stood at halftime. Evans and Jordan then each scored one goal in the second half. This season, Evans has 14 goals in nine games played. Jordan now has scored five goals this season.
Assists in the win were made by sophomore Ellie Brandyberry, freshman Mati Vaughn and sophomore Parker Wilkin. This season, Brandyberry now has three assists, Vaughn has two assists and Wilkin has five assists.
On defense, at goal, senior keeper Phoebe Holland finished with 13 saves, as she now has 39 saves this season in seven games played.
“Going into this game, the girls have been working hard. We talked about the top four teams in the league and how there's not much difference in the playing styles,” HHS head coach Leslie Molen said. “We also talked about what we need to do to position ourselves atop the leaderboard, and it started with the McClain game.
“I felt like Mati Vaughn had a good game. Arianna played well with good positioning, which allowed her to get off a lot of good passes, but unfortunately we weren't able to cash in on them.
“There's still work and timing on going to the goal that needs to be done,” Molen continued. “Our defense played better. We're still not where we want to be offensively or defensively, but we are coming along. Overall, a good team performance for the girls.”
With the loss, the Lady Tigers are now 4-3-0 overall and 1-1-0 in the FAC. MHS is scheduled to face the Miami Trace Lady Panthers on Thursday, Sept. 24 at 5 p.m. at McClain High School.
Hillsboro improves to 6-3-0 overall and 3-1-0 in the FAC, as HHS has won three of their past four matches.
Next for Hillsboro is a FAC contest at HHS against the Jackson Ironladies on Thursday, Sept. 24 at 5 p.m. Jackson is 1-4-0 overall with a 1-1-0 mark in the FAC.
BOX SCORE
MHS 0 0 — 0
HHS 1 2 — 2