Pearl River defeats Salmen

Pearl River’s Kim Treese scored two goals and recorded an assist in a 3-1 victory over the Salmen Lady Spartans in district competition held Friday at Salmen.

PRHS (5-3-1) was 3-1 in district play heading into yesterday’s match, while Salmen slipped to 1-3 in district play. The Lady Rebels spent most of the first half with the ball in their offensive zone. Pearl River had a chance to score in the fifth minute as Treese dribbled in, but her shot was over the crossbar.

She did tally in the 11th minute on a direct kick. Treese nailed a shot into the upper-left corner to give her team a 1-0 lead.

Treese said she didn’t think about the shot, which she felt helped her out.

“I just walked up there and kicked it,” Treese said. “When I think about it, I mess up.”

Four minutes after the goal, the Lady Spartans had a chance, but Courtney Glenn’s shot went wide, then in the 25th minute, Savannah Faught also had a shot go wide. Pearl River nearly went ahead 2-0 in the 28th minute when Treese made a crossing pass that just missed her target.

It appeared Pearl River would go into halftime up 1-0, but the Lady Rebels added a pair of goals late in the first half.

In the 36th minute, Treese took a pass from Chelsea Adams. From the middle of the field, Treese shot left-footed.

The ball hit off the goalkeeper and into the net for a 2-0 cushion.

One minute later, Treese was on the passing end of a netter. She sent the ball to Mary Beth Ohlenforst, who dribbled the ball up the field and then tallied. The Lady Rebels took a 3-0 advantage to the break.

In the first minute of the second half, the Lady Rebels nearly put the match out of reach. Following a yellow card, Treese took a direct kick. The ball hit off the Salmen goalkeeper and the Lady Rebels scored off the rebound, but it was waived off because PRHS was called for offsides.

Salmen coach Patricia Hailwood thought that play helped her team.

“Since that was offsides after the direct kick, it really did change momentum and the girls were able to concentrate a little bit more, be a little more aggressive and it went in our favor,” Hailwood said.

After the play, Salmen’s offense came to the forefront.

In the 53rd minute, Glenn took a shot that was saved, but two minutes later, the Lady Spartans got on the board. Rosie Rogers took a pass from Kassy Everhart. Rogers dribbled the ball upfield and scored as Pearl River’s goalkeeper came out to defend, trimming the deficit to 3-1.

The Lady Spartans had other scoring opportunities, but couldn’t cash in.

Ariel Lara was Salmen’s top defender. Pearl River coach Jeannie Beaushaw, who named Catie Bennett her top defender, said she was happy with her team’s performance.

“I thought we played well,” Beaushaw said. “We let them through one time, but we played consistently throughout the game and continued to put pressure on them.”