By Kailee Dick
The Macon County Tigerettes defeated Upperman 9-3 in non-district soccer action on Tuesday night led by five goals from Jessica Romero.
“We felt like we had the opportunity to be successful tonight,” said Head Coach Terrance Pryor. “We were able to take advantage of some early opportunities that we had. We missed our first couple of shots on goal, but after we hit our first one I felt like we settled in.”
The Tigerettes were in control from the start as they held a 5-0 lead at halftime. First half goals came from sophomore Jessica Romero, senior Ashley Romero and junior Taylor Green.
Upperman got on the scoreboard in the second half as junior Angelina Mora scored two goals. Freshman Dakota Canania scored the last goal for the Lady Bees from a penalty kick.
Goals in the second half for the Tigerettes came from Romero and an own goal.
“In the second half, we came out really well,” said Pryor. “We started to sub and get JV players in the game, and they made a little bit of a run and got it 7-2. We subbed pack a little bit and got it back to 9-2. I thought that we finished well at times and had plenty of shots on goal.
“This will make us 10-4 this year,” Pryor added. “We are pleased with our record and success that we have had so far this year.”
Romero’s performance Tuesday leaves her five goals away from Macon County’s all-time scoring record.
“Jessica is really good in 1-v-1 and in front of the goal,” said Pryor. “She is able to create a lot of stuff in 1-v-1 situations and able to carry in and finish the goal. She does a good job of finding the corner. It is very rare that you get goal scorers like her. As a freshman last year she scored 12 goals and this year she is at 29. She has been really good for us.”
Both Macon County and Upperman will wrap up their regular seasons this week. Macon County will travel to Dekalb at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday night while Upperman will travel to Cannon County at 6:00 p.m. on Friday night. District tournaments will start next week.
“We know that DeKalb is going to be a little bit of a step up in terms of competition,” Pryor said. “It has been a few years since we played DeKalb, and we know that they usually have some really quick athletic girls playing up front. I think we will have the ability to knock the ball around similar to what we did tonight. We know DeKalb will be a challenge and they are kind of a rivalry for us.”
