By Jordan Holland
The Marietta Times
Article Photos
JORDAN HOLLAND The Marietta Times
Warren’s Natalie O’Dell attacks on the wing as Jackson defender Ciera Miller (12) tries to stay with her at Warrior Soccer Field Thursday. The Lady Warrior booters won 4-1.
VINCENT - The Warren girls soccer team got back to its winning ways Thursday night in a 4-1 victory over Jackson in a Southeastern Ohio Athletic League matchup.
It was a big league win for the Lady Warriors, who were coming off of a non-league loss to the always-tough Parkersburg girls. It was the first loss of the season for Warren, who is now 6-1 overall, and remains undefeated in SEOAL play.
"It was a good game for us after playing badly against Parkersburg," said Warren head coach Ekrem Eksi. "It's a big win in the league."
Fact Box
Warren 4, Jackson 1
Jackson 0 1 - 1
Warren 2 2 - 4
1st half:
W- Dickerson, unassisted, 10:14
W- Dickerson, unassisted, 5:55
2nd half:
W- Ullman, unassisted, 38:02
W- Gardner, assist from O'Dell, 30:11
J- Miller, unassisted, 14:09
Shots on goal: Warren 10, Jackson 4
Keeper saves: Warren 2 (Barth both), Jackson 6 (Haley Merrill 5, Davis 1)
Next match: Warren at Logan 7 p.m. Tuesday
Eksi credited Warren's experience for the victory.
"(Jackson) beat Chillicothe 2-0," Eksi said. "They are a good team, but they are a young team. They will be really good in one to two years, probably next year. We have experience which helped us out. But they work hard and possess the ball well. We were able to make some things happen."
The first 20 minutes of the game was all about defense, as each team struggled to get good shots on the goal. Finally senior Melissa Dickerson, a week after getting a hat trick against Marietta, put Warren on the board with an unassisted goal with 10:14 left in the half.
Dickerson struck again about five minutes later, after dribbling past a defender and getting off a shot just over the fingertips of keeper Kersten Davis to give the Lady Warriors a 2-0 advantage at the half.
Goals were hard to come by early in the first half, but early in the second half was a different story. Senior Mackenzie Ullman made the score 3-0 with a long, unassisted strike just under two minutes into the half.
With 30:11 remaining in the half, junior Raelyn Gardner scored a goal on an assist from junior Natalie O'Dell to increase the Warren lead to 4-0.
The Robin Profitt-led Ironladies were able to get on the board with 14:09 remaining on a direct kick into the goal from Peyton Miller, which rounded out the final score of 4-1.
The Warren defense, led by sophomore keeper Janelle Barth, was stingy all game, allowing just four shots on the night.
"The defense played very well," Eksi said. "They made minimal mistakes and did a good job. We had a little bit of problem, where we would win the ball and immediately give it back because our passes weren't good enough. That's a problem. That, and on offense we need to be a little more quicker, faster. These are the things we're working on, and we'll get there. We'll be a better team as time goes on."
"We only had four shots in the game," Profitt said. "Two in the first half and two in the second half. Warren is a good team and they played well."
The Lady Warriors appear to be a top contender in the SEOAL, and are well on their way to improving on last year's record of 11-7.
The loss puts Jackson at 3-3-1 overall and 1-1-1 in the league.
Warren will be back at it Tuesday at 7 p.m. on the road against Logan in another big league matchup.
