It was a tale of two halves Tuesday night at JACES Field, and Harlan County freshman Adriana Rowe had a home debut to remember for the Harlan County girls soccer team.
After a back-and-forth first 20 minutes that ended in a 2-2 deadlock at halftime, Rowe scored three times during the second half to lead the Lady Bears to a 5-2 victory over Bell County.
In addition to Rowe’s four-goal night, a youth-laden HCHS defensive corps kept the pressure off junior goalkeeper Willow Peace for a majority of the final 20 minutes.
Harlan County coach Hannah Pittman was quick to praise Rowe and the collective work of defenders Savannah Hickey, Madlyn Burkhart, Braelynn Langley and Shawnee Peace.
“She’s a firecracker out there,” Pittman said about Rowe. “If we get the ball to her it’s going to hit the back of the net.
“She had probably about 13 shots on goal tonight, and she had four of them hit the net. As the season progresses and she gets comfortable, it’s going to be more and more each day.
“And that line is something we worked on all summer. We don’t have a single girl back there on that defensive line who’s played defense before. Three of them have never even played soccer before.
“We worked all summer building that line, so if the ball does get down there, it’s not getting through to Willow. We want our goalie to do the least amount of work possible, and they held it down beautifully tonight.”
It took the Lady Bears just 26 seconds to notch the first goal of the match, when senior Amelia Kazy converted on a crossing pass by classmate Callie Smith.
“That was absolutely huge for us to start out at that fast pace and start out on a positive note, especially coming off a hard loss last night to Hazard,” Pittman said. “That set the pace for everybody else the rest of the day.”
“You get that first goal and you get that shot in the arm and then you’re fearless,” Bell County coach Brett Thompson said.
“That’s the beauty of soccer, though. When somebody gets that momentum going it’s a big deal and it’s very unique to this game.”
Harlan County struck again five minutes later on Rowe’s first goal of the match. Rowe freed herself in front of the Bell County goal and drilled the ball into the corner of the net to make it, 2-0.
Despite digging themselves into an early hole, the Lady Cats dug out quickly behind the 1-2 offensive punch provided by Jayda Boateng and Allie Partin.
Partin pushed a perfect pass to Boateng just past a Lady Bear defender, and the athletic freshman finished with a shot into the right corner of the net.
Boateng continued to pressure the HCHS defense and Willow Peace with four near-miss attempts that could have shifted momentum during the still-early stages of the game.
Partin’s goal in the 18th minute came after outworking her HCHS defender to free herself from point-blank range and knot the score at, 2-2.
Following the halftime break, Rowe and the Lady Bears’ defensive wall helped pave the road to the victory by the home team.
Rowe scored a pair of goals during a span of less than three minutes, and then added her fourth tally with less than two minutes remaining in the game.
Defensively, the Lady Bears held Boateng in-check throughout the final 20 minutes. Peace, after making 12 first-half saves, was called on for just two saves during the second half.
“This was a very good game,” Rowe said after the game. “We played hard, and It was definitely difficult against their defense, but we just played together as a team.”
After witnessing several near-misses during the Lady Cats’ aggressive first-half performance on offense, Thompson offered a solution.
“We just need to finish the ball,” he said. “I stopped counting after about 16 shots that we took that if they just had a little bit more oomph or height on them, the score line might have been a whole lot different.”
Thompson also had plenty to say regarding a seemingly bright future as a soccer player for Boateng.
“I think she maybe played soccer when she was 8 (years old),” Thompson said. “She’s just an athlete.
“She’s played softball for the high school in the past. She’s an absolute fierce attacker, and we haven’t had anybody quite like her in the past. We’re really looking forward to seeing how the season goes for her.”
Bell County goalkeeper Kiley Cupp matched Peace with 14 saves.
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Harlan County opened the season Monday with a 3-1 loss at Hazard. Smith had the goal for HCHS.