MARYVILLE – Maryville is officially a member of the Collegiate Conference of the South. It says so right there at the top of the women's conference standings.
The Scots put three points on their league ledger with a 2-0 victory against Belhaven in the debut CCS match for both sides.
Avery Brown and
Sierra Lee scored first-half goals and
Sophie Turner and the Maryville defense did the rest in posting the team's fourth shutout of the season.
"It was a very good win," Scots head coach
Pepe Fernandez said. "There's a lot of uncertainty when you play a team for the first time and it's the first game in the conference – and you like to win your first game in the conference."
Turner Turns Them Away
Maryville's program-tying 4-0-0 start to the season saw the Scots throw three shutouts at the opposition. You can't lose if they don't score, right?
Maryville went back to that tried-and-true formula and Fernandez likes what he is seeing from Turner, who matched her season high with seven saves.
"She really looks like an upper-class keeper," Fernandez said of the junior from Murfreesboro. "Where she's been good for two years, now she's really looking the part and looking like she's going to be hard to score on."
Turner during the first half got the good fortune of a couple of lucky bounces against her goalposts. Belhaven (2-3-2, 0-1-0 CCS) shots caromed first off the right goal post and then off the left, and Turner took advantage by making several big saves the rest of the way.
Fantastic Goals
Brown claimed the team lead in goals with her fourth when she scored on a rebound of Lee's saved shot. Belhaven's Julianne Wilson did well to deny Lee's attempt from close range, but the ball rebounded straight to Brown and the net was wide open for a 1-0 lead in just the seventh minute of play.
Lee got her second big chance in the 36th minute and she didn't miss that time.
Macy Lindsey fed her a nice ball and Lee lofted it over Wilson's head and into the far upper corner for a 2-0 cushion.
"They were both fantastic goals," Fernandez said. "We played well and created a lot of great chances."
Maryville (5-2-1, 1-0-0 CCS) worked its way to a 14-12 edge in shots and a 6-1 margin in corner kicks. Lee fired six shots, with three on target.
Hailey Cartt attempted three shots and Brown tried two.
Lee's goal was her second of the season, and Lindsey's assist was her team-leading third.
Emory Visits Friday
It's obviously early, but three points for a victory will be mighty handy come tournament time. The league format calls for the top two regular season teams to gain first-round byes in the conference tournament.
"It's going to be pretty valuable being one of those top two seeds on the women's side," Fernandez said. "We're a long way from it but it's something to really play for in this conference."
Maryville turns it right around and takes on Emory on Friday night at 6 o'clock. The Eagles (4-2-0) are ranked No. 4 in Region VI by UnitedSoccerCoaches.com.
"Quick turnaround with a great team coming in," Fernandez said. "We're going to have to play a little smarter and a little more organized defensively for sure, and hopefully put ourselves in position that we can stick a couple in the net on them.
"Tonight was a good start to the conference. It was a shutout, a win, and we move on to tomorrow."
