Tunstall girls soccer falls short in bid for first district win

DRY FORK — The Tunstall girls, winless in the district so far, had trouble once already this season dealing with the Cougars’ unusual four-man front. That trouble manifested itself once again early in the game Tuesday, when one Tunstall defender lost her mark and another fell down, allowing Patrick County to take an early lead.

“That took a little wind out of our sails,” Tunstall coach Marc Parrish said, using an ironic metaphor on such a blustery afternoon. “I told the girls I think we let one slip away from us.”

Tunstall managed to tighten its defense and tie the game on a Maggie Macleish goal in the final minute of the first half before dropping a 2-1 decision to Patrick County in Piedmont District action. Katie Kipreos scored what proved to be the game-winner about 10 minutes after intermission.

Players for both teams draped themselves in blankets on the bench as the wind knocked down long kicks and at times bent the small flagpoles marking the field’s corners nearly horizontal.

“The wind was pretty bad and that didn’t help, especially when we tried kicking into it,” Patrick County coach Sanda Rakes said.

Tunstall (1-8-1, 0-4-1), however, was much more interested in using the sun to its advantage, rather than the wind, making sure that the Patrick County (5-7) goaltender was on the side of the field where she’d have the sun in her eyes for the second half.

“It almost paid off for us,” Parrish said. “We got some shots.”

Macleish fired a shot off the crossbar just two minutes after the break and Tunstall had a number of opportunities, but after converting late in the first half the Trojans were unable to score again.

Brittany Warren assisted on Macleish’s goal, which tied the game at 1-1 after Patrick County’s Sarah Puckett scored about five minutes into the contest.

The Trojans, with only a single non-district victory to their credit, have a history of dropping close games this season.

“We’ve been struggling to score this year, but we’ve been in every match we’ve played,” Parrish said. “Once we work out a few of these little finishing issues and start putting the ball in the goal, I think we’re going to be a surprise team for the tournament.”

Patrick County 2, Tunstall 1
Patrick County 1 1 —  2
Tunstall           1 0 —  1
Goals: Sarah Puckett (PC) assisted by Elizabeth Leeper, Maggie Macleish (T) assisted by Brittany Warren, Katie Kipreos (PC) assisted by Amber Eutsler.
Shots: Patrick County 25-16
Corners: Patrick County 5-3
Saves: Houstan Boles (PC) 11, Lauren Elliott (T) 14
Records: Patrick County 5-7, Tunstall 1-8-1