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Hickory’s Ali Rose, left, looks to boot the ball as Fred T. Foard’s Julia Chesson, closes in during Tuesday’s match in Hickory. The Red Tornadoes blanked the Tigers 5-0 for their fourth consecutive shutout victory.
Since the start of the 2021 season, Fred T. Foard’s girls soccer team has been among the top defenses in the state. With that in mind, Hickory was the aggressor early in Tuesday night’s match and blasted the Tigers 5-0 in a Western Foothills 3A Conference match held on the turf on Hickory’s David Elder Field at Frank Barger Stadium.
The Tigers (5-2-2, 1-2-1 Western Foothills 3A) entered the match having allowed one goal this season and four total over two seasons spanning 23 contests. However, the Red Tornadoes (6-4, 4-0) needed 60 minutes to match that total and added another goal late for the final margin. The five goals allowed by Foard were the most since the previous match played against Hickory on March 11, 2020, a 5-2 win by the Red Tornadoes, which turned out to be that season’s final match prior to the season shutting down due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
With speed on the wings, Hickory consistently attacked throughout the night, setting up runners at the net. The Red Tornadoes finished the night with 14 shots on goal to just one for Foard.
“The intensity with which we defended all across the fields,” said Red Tornadoes head coach Brian Jillings. “We just caused them problems. … I thought they just did a great job of pressing and forcing turnovers and then we just kept running at them and running at them. They’ve got a fantastic goalkeeper and a good back line. So, we knew we’d have to be relentless and just keep coming at them.”
After Foard goalkeeper Alexis Wolgemuth made a pair of saves early, Hickory got on the board in the 11th minute. A diagonal cross by Madeline Mosteller from the left side found Ali Rose in a crowd inside the 6-yard box. Rose’s initial tap was defended, but with the ball still loose, another tap put the ball on net.
In the 19th minute, Mia Zulueta picked off a Tigers clearing attempt before sending a grounder on target for the score.
Later, Mosteller slalomed through the Foard defense up the middle before Wolgemuth made a diving attempt to snatch the ball. The attempted tackle by the Tigers keeper was whistled for a foul in the box. Mosteller’s penalty kick found the top right corner to make it 3-0 at the 30-minute mark.
Tigers head coach Sean Elliott admitted the team was shellshocked by the initial runs of the game.
“They found the back of the net early, and you know, we were reeling at that point,” said Elliott. “We’re just trying to gather ourselves and figure out a solution from there and they got that PK which took the wind out of our sails.”
The lone shot on target by Foard came in the 58th minute when Brianna See had an open look from 20 yards that Hickory keeper Taylor Rose grabbed without stress. The shutout by Hickory is the fourth straight and the fifth in sixth matches. Foard was held scoreless for the third straight match and the fourth time this season.
Mosteller scored her second goal of the match in the 60th minute, as she had a clear run to receive Ellie Holtzman’s pass from the right corner and tapped in. Jayden Fralick finished the scoring in the 72nd minute.
“We made better decisions in the attacking third with our final ball,” Jillings said. “When we’re cutting it back and the runs inside the box as well. We’ve needed to be more efficient, and we executed to a tee. Absolutely beautiful to watch.”
The Red Tornadoes’ next match is scheduled for Friday against Statesville, while Foard returns home to host St. Stephens.
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Hickory’s Ali Rose, left, looks to boot the ball as Fred T. Foard’s Julia Chesson, closes in during Tuesday’s match in Hickory. The Red Tornadoes blanked the Tigers 5-0 for their fourth consecutive shutout victory.
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