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ALLEN EARL

Claiborne County Sports Zone

The Claiborne Lady Bulldogs soccer team hosted Union County for the home opener, August 25. Claiborne got off to a fast 2-0 start and were looking to tick another one off in the win column, but the Lady Patriots were a very good, senior led team with a great keeper.

Head Coach Jeff Sorke spoke a little about his team, “We are going to have to play a little better than in our previous two games. We had high goal totals in both games but our shot to goal percentage is off from where we want it to be. We lost many seniors, and we are having to move players around so it’s a challenge.”

When asked what the 2022 team does well Sorke replied, “We control the midfield well and control the pace of the game but on the other side of that we need to improve on winning 50-50 balls in the air. We also need to get our communication better due to fact that we are playing in different positions than last season.”

The goals started quickly for the home team as Riley Kiefer and Haley LeBert kicked in goals before the 32-minute mark of the opening half. Union County then found the net behind the keeper making the scoreboard read 2-1. The first half ended with the home team leading 2-1 but the Lady Bulldogs had lost some momentum.

At the 34′-45″ mark in the second Union County had tied the game at two. Seconds later, The Lady Patriots took the lead at 3-2 then added three more to lead 6-2. Claiborne had one last rally when LeBert scored her second goal of the night and the scoring for both teams ended. Union County left Claiborne High School with a 6-3 victory.

The First Century Player of the Game was earned by Haley LeBert with her hard play and two goals.