Big Reds hammer Warriors

By MATT LOCKE

Sports Writer



PARKERSBURG — Chelsey Maiden scored the game-winning goal just three minutes into the Big Reds’ 9-0 route of Riverside on Wednesday night at Stadium Field.

It was apparent the Big Reds were on the attack early after three offsides calls in the first three minutes. The fourth venture into Warrior territory was all it took for the Big Reds to secure the win.

Brooke Logston found Maiden in the center of the field, where Maiden settled the ball and gently placed it in the left corner of the net for the first goal with 36:38 showing on the clock. Maiden scored her second goal early in the second half and had three assists on the night.

The Big Reds (5-1) dominated the entire game. The Warriors were rarely inside the Big Reds’ 18 and didn’t secure their first shot on goal until the second minute of the second half, the second shot came with only 2:28 remaining in the game.

Meanwhile, Parkersburg was firing at will. Logston grabbed an Alex Bush pass out of the air, getting behind the defense and placing an off balance shot from 10 yards out into the upper shelf to make it 2-0 in the eighth minute.

Five minutes later Maiden fired a shot from close range only to have it blocked by Warrior keeper Ashton Caruthers, but Bush was on the far post for the rebound propelling the Big Reds to a 3-0 lead.

Next, a pass from Bush made it through a line of Warrior defenders and found Taylor Bryant who finished the shot to give the Big Reds a 4-0 lead with 23:42 remaining in the first half.

The Big Reds came out shooting once again in the second half. Maiden aired a cross from the far left side of the field and found Bush, who blasted it off the keeper for a 5-0 advantage with 38 minutes left on the clock.

Maiden found the net one more time in the sixth minute, fired again in the ninth minute and had the ricochet finished by Bryant to make the score 7-0.

Freshman Tori Boggs scored the eighth goal of the game with 26:00 remaining and was followed by a long blast from Vanessa Keiser with 17:17 left, to set the final score at 9-0.

The polished Big Red program was firing on all cylinders, while Riverside is still in the construction stage

“I thought we played well,” PHS coach Mike Lockney said. “Riverside is a building program and they’ve got numbers. I don’t think they have the talent we have but they played hard.”

The win is just a warm-up for tonight’s match-up against Parkersburg South at the Erickson All-Sports Facility.

“It’s always a battle when we play Parkersburg South,” Lockney said. “They’ve always had a good team, they’ve got some talent. We’re playing on their field, so we just have to be patient and try to organize ourselves and play hard.”

Contact Matt Locke at

mlocke@newsandsentinel.com

Thursday, August 30, 2007 — Time: 4:50:47 PM EST