LAURINBURG — A Southeastern conference win is still eluding the Lady Scots soccer team after losing 7-1 to Lumberton on Monday.
The Lady Pirates imposed their will on the Lady Scots early and often, scoring in the first 20 seconds of the match to take a 1-0 lead. Thirty seconds later, Lady Scots goalie Anna Griswold made her first save to keep Lumberton at bay. Griswold had six saves in the first half, but it wasn’t enough to keep Lumberton from scoring.
Lumberton scored their second unanswered goal at the 20 minute mark to take a 2-0 lead. The Lady Scots managed to get their first goal attempted at the 18 minute mark and had a second attempt just 45 seconds later, both were wrapped up by the Lady Pirates goalie.
Lady Scots senior Emma Gray Beacham had two corner kicks in the first half that were both well defended by Lumberton. The second corner kick was taken out by the Lady Pirates and resulted in their third goal of the match.
Being down 3-0 didn’t stop the Lady Scots from trying to put points on the board as sophomore Sarah Eury had a direct free kick that was almost knocked in by freshman Emily Stevens. Stevens kick missed over the top of the goal.
The Lady Scots defense did make a stand with just under three minutes left in the first half as Lumberton earned a corner kick. The Lady Scots got the ball out to sophomore Beatrice Eddy, who broke away from all the Lumberton defenders and had a clear path to the goal before she was side swiped by the Lady Pirates.
Eddy went down hard to the ground, the officials did not call a foul on the hit because they said the defender hit the ball first and was shoulder to shoulder with Eddy, making it a legal hit. Eddy was walked off the field by head coach Abbi Marsh and didn’t return until the final minutes of the second half.
Beacham had a final corner kick with 1:30 left in the half, but the kick went into the side of the net. On her second attempt, Beacham had a better kick but Lumberton continued to defend their goal.
Halftime didn’t provide any relief for the Lady Scots as Lumberton came out swinging in the second half scoring their fourth unanswered goal just a few minutes into the half. The Lady Pirates scored one more goal before the Lady Scots managed to get the ball into the net.
Eddy battled just outside the box and managed to sneak a left corner kick into the net past Lumberton’s goalie at the 16:31 mark to put the Lady Scots on the board, 6-1. Eddy had a second chance at a goal later in the half, but found herself tangled up with the goalie. Lady Scots sophomore Liza McIntyre was right behind Eddy and tried to kick the ball into the empty net, but the ball flew wide right.
The final goal of the game came from Lumberton at the 7:42 mark for the final 7-1 score.
With the loss, the Lady Scots move to 1-6-2 overall and 0-4 in SEC play. Lumberton moves to 3-6-1 overall and 3-1 in SEC play.
The Lady Scots will host Richmond tonight at 5:15 p.m. before closing out their week with a non-conference home match against West Columbus on Thursday, March 30.
Amber Hatten can be reached at 910-506-3170.