By Kailee Dick
The Smith County Lady Owls defeated York Institute 9-0 Tuesday evening for a District 5A victory on senior night led by four goals from senior Brooklyn Sensabaugh.
“We had a late cancellation last week, so we really focused on getting back on track,” said Lady Own head coach Nick Bussell. “Defensively, offensively, and in our goalkeeper, we wanted to be better top to bottom. Our performance tonight really showed that they have bought into what they want to do this season. We still have a long way to go, but we proved tonight that we can battle back in tough situations.”
Smith County started with a dominant first half, scoring four goals. Freshman Chloe Gill, senior Brooklyn Sensabaugh and junior Aubrey Felice each found the back of the net in the opening half to give the Lady Owls a 4-0 lead.
Smith County started the second half where they ended the first half as they poured in five more goals, making the final 9-0. Second half goals came from Sensabaugh, Felice and freshman Aubrey Spain.
Sensabaugh racked up four goals in the victory.
“She is a leader and one of our captains,” said Bussell. “Her and Abbey Williams did a great job closing down the middle tonight. Brooklyn stepped up in a big way tonight. We have been trying to get her going offensively in striker play and even making some runs in and trying to shoot the ball a little more. She put her foot in the ground and said lets go.”
Smith County improved to 8-1-1 overall with the victory and will face off against Jackson County on Thursday night in a district matchup. York Institute will host Cannon County on Thursday.
“Jackson County is always a really well-coached team,” said Bussell. “This year they have a big squad with them this year, and they probably have the biggest team in the district. Tonight really showed that we can step up, but we still have some things we have to clean up a little bit. It was good to see the back of the net a little bit and defensively stepping up on some things that we have practiced on.”
