MARYVILLE, Tenn. | Five players teamed up for six goals Tuesday (Sept. 27), mixed between seniors and sophomores, as Oneida picked up a 6-1 road win to continue its recent hot streak.
The Lady Indians won their third consecutive game on the strength of a pair of goals by Claire Burress, while seniors Kamryn Kennedy and Alexea Jones also scored.
Two sophomores, Jillian Cross and Lydia Kline, also scored, as Oneida opened a 4-0 lead, played everyone on the roster, and coasted to a relatively easy win in Blount County.
“We did just dandy until I started getting into our subs late in the first half,” Oneida coach Phil Newport said. “Not to say they were playing badly; we just seemed to lose our rhythm when we dropped deeper into our lineup.”
Kline got things started in just the game's fourth minute when she scored an unassisted goal on a set piece to give her team the early lead.
Jones scored less than four minutes later off an assist by Burress, and the rout was on.
Later in the first half, Burress scored off an assist by Kennedy, and then Cross scored off an assist by Burress.
William Blount scored late in the first half to make it 14-1 at halftime, but the Lady Indians had an 18-3 shot advantage, and the game was not in question at the intermission.
If the Governors managed to do one thing right, it was keeping Oneida's leading scorer, Aliyah Douglas, from finding the back of th enet.
“Aliyah was bounced around quite a bit and she was close all night,” Newport said. “Plenty of kids picked up slack when they had looks.”
Newport said that five of his team's misses hit the posts, meaning the score could've been worse.
As it was, Oneida added to its lead three minutes into the second half when Kennedy scored on an assist by Burress. Finally, Burress scored her second goal off a corner kick by Douglas with 31:24 remaining.
The game was scoreless for the final half-hour, as William Blount continued to struggle to get looks at the goal.
“William Blount's goal was just us getting careless,” Newport said. “It was preventable, as the ref inquired about it with our keeper before ruling it a score.”
The game was one of several non-district tune-ups Oneida will have to close out the regular season. The Lady Indians host Scott High on Thursday, and will travel to Cumberland County on Oct. 3 before entering postseason play.
