LINDEN — North Montgomery girls’ soccer team dominated the second half against Benton Central to claim a 3-1 victory. The Chargers were able to shut down the Bison offense and scored all three of their goals after halftime at home on Tuesday.
The game was 0-0 heading into the second half when the Chargers turned the game around. After giving up 10 shots on goal in the first half, the Bison only had six shots after the break. North also improved their offense and had seven shots on goal in the final half compared to only three shots in the first half.
Charger Coach Julie Hodges said her team seemed to gain control in the second half due to better energy and a feeling the girls are starting to believe in themselves.
“Benton Central is a good team and we knew they would be fast, physical, aggressive and could shoot the ball,” Hodges said. “I have been preaching to this team to trust the process and every single game they have improved.”
The Chargers have had several games that they have come down to the last few minutes of the game and have not been able to get over the hump with a dominating second half.
“In all these close games we are competing in we haven’t won,” Hodges said. “To not only fight all game and go down 1-0 midway through the second half, and still win shows this team never quits.”
The Bison’s Sophia Powell placed a dribbler into the net at the 22:45 mark to put her team ahead 1-0.
North Montgomery (3-5) got on the board at the 12:27 mark by junior Taylor Hudson. The Chargers took the lead when Ella McManomy scored on an assist by Ava Nunan with 8:26 remaining. The final goal came at 3:11 when Taylor Hudson scored again with an assist from Gracie Racliff.
Charger goalkeeper Ella Smith had 16 saves in the game including 11 in the first half.
Hodges, who has coached for 19 seasons, said this team is showing constant improvement each game.
“I can honestly say in all the years I have coached; this is the first team that gets better each game,” Hodges said. “I think they are just now starting to realize how good they can be.”
Next for the Chargers is a home match today against North Putnam.
