Bullitt East lost to Anderson County 1-4 in the Distrct 16 final and was therefore rewarded by having to take on South Oldham, the #2 team in the state on their home field in the Region 8 opener tonight. It would take a monumental effort to consummate such an upset, and the Chargers took the field dressed in red & white with the best of intentions in their underdog role.
The Lady Dragons put the upset talk to rest early however as they jumped all over the Chargers getting their first of many shots on goal just 90 seconds in from Stephanie Hay and followed that with their first goal at the 38:03 mark when Katie Moore passed to Shana Bertetto who floated a soft looper over the Bullitt East goalie for a 1-0 lead.
South Oldham kept up the pressure and with 28:40 left in the first half Claire Workinger "dented" the crossbar with a wicked shot that was picked up by Kari Clark who slammed it back into the goal for a 2-0 lead. A little over 3 minutes later the Dragons would score again when Clark advanced the ball to Beth Morris who dribbled in, freezing the goalie and sticking it past her for a 3-0 lead.
With the game well in hand, Coach Tucker implemented a seldom used "platoon" substitution pattern when he switched out nearly the entire team with about 15 minutes to go in the half. I'm not sure the Chargers could tell the difference as South showed it's talented depth and made it 4-0 with 13:02 left after Katie Brandstetter fired in a shot after receiving a pass from Tamryn Tuller. Less than 2 minutes later, Kristen Young took a pass from Tuller and bounced a shot off the goalie, then picked up the deflection and dribbled around her for a soft tap in goal to make it 5-0 Lady Dragons.
Although down 5-0 and obviously outmanned the Lady Chargers never quit and surprised SOHS when the #10 player from Bullitt East fired a fast roller from right of center, through traffic, across, and just inside the left post that got by a diving Ally Tucker to avoid the shutout. The first half would end with the Lady Dragons up 5-1.
Unable to build upon whatever momentum their lone goal provided at the end of the first half, the Chargers found themselves under the Lady Dragon gun most of the time in the second half as well. With 32:41 left in the game Katie Moore fielded a corner kick from Stephanie Hay and slammed a knee high line drive into the upper left corner of the net to make it 6-1 South Oldham.
Coach Tucker switched out most of the starters with about 25 minutes to go and the Lady Dragons continued to dominate. Becky Hallman took a pass from Kristen Young and lofted a shot over the Charger goalie from the right side for South's 7th goal. Then with 5 minutes left in the game Hallman returned the favor by assisting Young who drilled a fast roller past the goalie to make the final score 8-1 Lady Dragons....
