STARKVILLE — Freshman forward Charde Hannah recorded a hat trick Tuesday night to lead the Tupelo High School girls soccer team to a 6-0 victory against beat Starkville.
Hannah scored twice in the first half and once in the second. She also set up a another in a dominant first half.
The unbeaten Lady Wave (17-0, 2-0 Class 6A District 2) also received a goal each from midfielder Erin Tucker and forward Georgia Russell.
The Lady Jackets (11-3, 1-1) managed just one shot on goal and had an offsides call nix their best effort in the 21st minute when Morgan Miller finished a Haley Jenkins cross. Had the goal stood, the Lady Jackets would have trailed 2-1.
Instead, the Lady Wave took a 3-0 lead a minute later when Hannah taxed for a failed clearance and scored inside the six-yard box.
Starkville played without starting goalkeeper and 2010 Commercial Dispatch Player of the Year Raevonne Shoemaker, who was benched for disciplinary reasons, head coach Anna Albritton said.
Shoemaker was replaced in goal by forward Carolina Berryhill, who was replaced at forward by central midfielder Morgan Miller.
Berryhill made a string of saves in the game, but her presence up top was missed as Miller isn”t 100 percent after breaking an ankle prior to the start of the season.
Tuesday”s game was the first time Miller has played 80 minutes this season.
However, Albritton didn”t blame for the loss on the unexpected lineup shuffle. She noted Berryhill”s experience playing goalkeeper for her club team and praised her performance against a barrage of shots.
“A lot of the goals that were scored on her there”s nothing a goalkeeper could have done,” Albritton said. “It was just a breakdown in defense. She stepped up and did a wonderful job.
“We missed Caroline up top, but we”ve got girls up there that can do it. I”m not walking away unhappy. I think they”ll walk away with a lot from this.”
Shoemaker”s status for Thursday”s home match against Columbus is unknown.
Tupelo took a 2-0 lead after Hannah scored in the third and crossed to Tucker for an easy back-post finish in the seventh.
Defensive lapses by the backline led to the next two goals, as failed clearances put Shoemaker in tough spots inside the six-yard box.
The Lady Jackets trailed 4-0 at halftime.
“In some instances, it was the defense trying too hard and being pulled out of position and our outside mids and some of our center mids not getting back,” Albritton said. “We needed numbers up on defense. When you don”t have enough back there, you get pulled. And when you get pulled, that leaves the goalie point-blank waiting for a shot.”
Missed scoring chances were the only things Tupelo coach Shelley Miller found to critique. She praised the quality of crosses from Hannah and Tucker.
“We work on that a lot (crosses),” Miller said. “Now we just got to work on finishing all of them. I encourage my girls every game, no matter who they”re playing, to set a goal for themselves. Each game is a learning experience.”
Miller”s team plays Columbus on Friday before a rematch against Starkville at home. The Lady Wave hold comfortable tiebreakers against both teams. The top two teams in the district will advance to the playoffs.
“We”re playing really well,” Miller said. “We”re playing together. We”ve got a great group all the way from the top to the bottom of our group. They play as a team and for each other, which is really big.”
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