Waverly moves to 2-0 with convincing win over West to start conference play

Derrick Webb, Staff Writer

WAVERLY — Over the first two matches its played in this fall, Waverly’s girls soccer program has outscored its opponents by two touchdowns.

After Monday’s 8-0 win over Washington, the Tigers (2-0, 1-0 SOC II) handed Portsmouth West a 6-0 loss, Tuesday evening to begin SOC II play.

Amelia Willis started the night’s scoring with a goal at the 29-minute mark in the first half, but she was just getting warmed up.

Following Willis’ goal was Loren Moran, who scored two consecutive times, giving the Tigers a 3-0 lead with just over 20 minutes left in the half.

Michaela Rhoads then made it 4-0 at 13 minutes remaining, thanks to an assist from Moran, before Willis added her second and third goals of the evening at the 12:44 and 11:08 marks to round out the final.

“[Assistant coach] Danielle [Morgan] and I are proud of the way we played tonight,” said Waverly coach Chris Murphy.  “Our organization was better tonight and our shots were not going high. We’d like to compliment West’s performance, too. [West] Coach [Tom] Hoggard is training young athletes that have minimal experience or this is the first time they have played. Coach Hoggard is doing a nice job of coaching up his team. We look forward to seeing them and their progress next round.”

The win gives the Tigers a two-game resume they have to be happy about.

In the team’s first 160 minutes of play, both Willis and Moran have scored five goals each while three other players have found the back of the net at least once. Sophomore Kylie Smith has also already tallied four assists.

So far, so good.

The Tigers will get back to it on Thursday, traveling to Ironton St. Joseph. Meanwhile, the Senators (0-1, 0-1 SOC II) get back to work Wednesday night, hosting Wheelersburg.