Chaney gets hat trick, Sikeston blanks Massac Co. 4-0

sports@standard-democrat.com

SIKESTON -- It may have took them awhile to get started Monday, but once the Sikeston Lady Bulldogs got going they were hard to stop.

Led by Madison Chaney's hat trick, Sikeston routed visiting Massac County, Ill., 4-0 to push over the .500 mark on the season.

"They had four or five girls constantly back on defense and were kind of overloading on Madison's side," Lady Bulldogs' head coach Doyle Noe said of his team's slow start. "Once we got Madison out on the wing and were able to get her in space we were able to play balls to her and get her some space.

"When she has space with the ball on her foot she's deadly. She's able to get by girls, get it on the keeper and put some shots in."

After getting called for offsides a few times earlier, Chaney finally found her sweet spot in the final minutes of the first half.

Taking a pass from Monica Carter while racing down the left side, Chaney was able to send an unobstructed shot into the right corner of the net with 4:11 before the break to open the floodgates.

Just a few minutes later, Chaney saw a shot from the same spot blocked. But with 1:15 left in the half, Chaney again connected from the left side to give her team a 2-0 edge.

Completing her hat trick performance, Chaney came out in the second half and put her team up 3-0 in the 47th minute. It was once again a shot from near the left corner of the net that found the right corner of the goal untouched.

In all Chaney scored all three of goals in a span of just under 12 minutes.

"I kept getting called offsides so I finally got it to where we could pass and I could run off," Chaney said of her night. "We keep playing like that and we'll get goals. Not just me, but everybody.

"I was so used to more than one defender on me, but they kept leaving me open on the left side. I knew what I had to do."

Sikeston goalkeeper Annie Ramey maintained the shutout while enjoying a fairly quiet night though she did make a few key stops on free kicks in the second half. Noe credited this to a strong effort by the Lady Bulldogs' defense that helped keep Sikeston on the offensive most of the evening.

"They didn't have a ton of shots on goal," Noe said of Massac County. "Katherine (Inman) was playing great before she got hurt. Claudea Kuykendel stepped in and played well in Katherine's spot.

"She controlled the ball and any chance Massac had she was able to win the ball and play it out. We play the ball to our midfielders a lot instead of just clearing it. When you can possess the ball a little more it takes away the other team being able to counter attack."

Now at 5-4-1 on the year, the Lady Bulldogs will host Harrisburg, Ill., Wednesday with junior varsity action starting at 5 p.m. and the varsity starting soon after.

In the night's junior varsity contest, Sikeston fell 5-3 to Massac County.