Northeast High School Lady Eagles defeat Henry County High School 4-1 in District 10-AAA quarterfinals

Friday, October 11, 2013

Clarksville, TN – The Northeast High School Lady Eagles defended their home field Thursday evening, beating the Henry County High School Lady Patriots 4-1 to advance in the District 10-AAA soccer tournament.

Both teams played solid defense, intercepting passes, deflecting attacks and the goalkeepers aggressively tracking down everything that came near their box. The difference in the game came down to offensive execution and the Lady Patriots did not have an answer for Abriella Argueta.

Northeast High School Soccer defeats Henry County 4-1. (David Roach-Clarksville Sports Network)

Argueta scored the Lady Eagles 4 goals, two in each half. She exploited almost every one-on-one matchup and even weaved through traffic to set up her own offense more than once

The Lady Eagles made 16 shots on goal and had three corner kicks. The Lady Patriots made six shots on goal with one corner kick and one penalty kick. Their only goal came from the penalty kick made by Rachel Ayers in the 76th minute of the game.

“Our girls played outstanding tonight. We were up against a great team,“ Lady Eagles head coach Richard Frost said. “Thomas Klingenberg and Henry County, they have such a good program and been district champions for the past few years. To come out tonight and play some past former champions and a program like his, and put together a win is great for our program too.”

Most of the Lady Patriots shots on goal were wide of the mark. Lady Eagles goalkeeper, Jessica Clark had one save in the game. Lady Patriots goalkeeper, Cate Addi made eight saves.

“We spent yesterday preparing for this team. We knew that they would have a little bit to offer on the offensive end,“ Frost said. “Our defense had to step up when we played Henry County every game. Tonight, the whole entire defense stepped up to stop them from getting any good quality shots off.”

It took a while for either team to get pass the others defense. Each team had one corner kick in the first 15 minutes of the game, but no score. It took a potent play by Argueta to break the stalemate and establish some momentum for the Lady Eagles offense.

In the 16th minute, Argueta received a pass near midfield and quickly turned, gaining a step on her defender as she dribbled down the sideline. Before any other defender on the back line could react, Argueta cut diagonally to the goal and found the corner of the net from virtually point blank range.

After the first goal, the Lady Eagles pressed their advantage and put the Lady Patriots on the defensive. In the 28th minute Eryn Decker lobbed a pass from midfield to Argueta who beat her defender to make her second goal of the game.

The Lady Patriots opened the second half more aggressively. They were able to generate a couple of early shots on goal that did not find the net.

After the Lady Eagles deflected another Lady Patriot attack attempt in the 50th minute of the game, Diya Daswani quickly turned defense to offense.

Daswani sprinted with the ball from the open field in Lady Eagles territory, down the sideline to within 20 yards of the Lady Patriots goal where she made a sharp pass to Argueta waiting in front of the net. With another deft maneuver, Argueta made her third goal.

Argueta’s last goal came five minutes later when she weaved through several swarming Lady Patriots and closed to the net around the diving goalkeeper.

“Abriella is an extraordinary player who makes everybody else around her better. She sees the opening spots, she delivers the right passes at the right time, she is an entire boost for our program; which is why she is a captain and the offensive player of the year for two years consecutive prior to her injury. She is just a stud.”

The victory advances the Lady Eagles to semifinal play Saturday, October 12th.