The win moves Trigg on to the district championship at 5:30 p.m. Thursday against Caldwell County after the top-seed Lady Tigers eliminated Crittenden County 9-0 earlier Monday. The tournament is being played at the Trigg County Recreation Complex.
Lyon County scored first when Jill P’Poole found the net in the 15th minute, but Trigg scored the next four goals. Lauren Frazier scored unassisted in the 25th minute and on an assist by Carly Dothsuk during stoppage time of the first half.
Brooklyn Thomas scored four minutes into the second half, and Frazier finished her hat trick with an assist by Amanda Want with 29 minutes to go in the game.
Then, things got ugly. Three minutes after her third goal, Frazier was on a run through the Lyon County defense when she was pushed to the ground by Chelsea Brehm, who received a yellow card. Frazier was helped off the field complaining of lower back pain. She did not return, and her status for Thursday was unknown at press time.
Another four minutes later, Trigg’s Ellie Jolly was whistled for a foul against Lyon’s McKenzie Guess. As the center official prepared to pull his yellow card for Jolly, Guess threw a punch at Jolly, and the two were quickly separated. Guess was assessed a red card and ejected from the game.
By rule, teams are not allowed to replace players that have received a red card and must finish the contest one player short. However, officials did not immediately notice that Lyon County sent a new player on the field, and just over a minute after the altercation, Mattea Kirk scored to trim Trigg’s lead to 4-2. Once the error was noticed, the center official explained to Trigg head coach Salvador Lara that the goal could not be taken off the board.
Ten minutes later, P’Poole scored again to make it a one-goal game, but with six minutes left, Lyon County was called for a hand-ball in the goal box, and Thomas connected on the ensuing penalty kick to put the Lady “Cats ahead by the final margin of 5-3.
Lara said Trigg’s momentum was almost completely stalled when Frazier was injured.
“I don’t care who it is, even if it’s a bench player, when a player has to leave because they’re hurt, it brings the whole team down,” Lara said. “I’m glad we stood our ground.”
When the Lady Lyons defeated Trigg 2-1 on Sept. 21, they were quicker to 50-50 balls and prevented Trigg from developing quality offensive chances. Monday’s game started and ended in similar fashion, but the Lady ‘Cats played well enough in the middle for the win, Lara said.
“I think we’ve been trying too much to get that perfect touch, that perfect kick,” Lara said. “If they go at it and miss, that’s one thing. But if they lay back, try to get the perfect shot and give the ball up, that’s the worst thing they can do. We should be first to the ball.”
Lara said Lyon County’s effort “made us play hard and made us play better” and that the game serves as good preparation for Thursday’s game against Caldwell.
“We have to come out tough from the first whistle to the last,” Lara said. “We can’t let down. They’re a good team, but we can play with them.”
Trigg’s regular season ended with a 3-3 tie Thursday against Muhlenberg County. Frazier scored three goals, Brittany Shafer had two assists and Dothsuk had one.
