ON THE ATTACK

An underclassman stole the spotlight on the Smith-Cotton girls soccer team’s senior night.

Jessica Greer scored four goals Tuesday, as she aggressively attacked the net in the Lady Tigers’ 4-1 victory over the O’Hara Celtics.

Greer put Smith-Cotton in front early when she took a crossing pass from Halee Ruckman and banged it into the net for a 1-0 lead at the 34-minute mark.

“She took advantage of the opportunities,” Smith-Cotton coach Shawn Cairer said. “She’s always a very aggressive player. Sometimes the ball needs to roll your way, an extra pass or an extra touch. It just all fell together for her.”

With Smith-Cotton in front, O’Hara tried to counter with its star, Michaella Fulmer. Fulmer worked the middle of the field, creating scoring chances and blasting shots at S-C goalkeeper Cristian Sharp.

Sharp and the S-C defense had an answer for each of Fulmer’s moves, smothering her with defenders and contesting every shot.

“She’s tough,” he said. “This is our fourth game against O’Hara since I’ve been here, and she’s scored on us every time. She’s tough to defend. She is just an unbelievable player.”

Smith-Cotton continued to push the ball forward offensively, led by Greer, Stephanie Paul and Ruckman. Paul nearly made the score 2-0 midway through the half when she got past the O’Hara keeper, but the other Celtics defenders turned away her shot.

Greer did find the back of the net four minutes later, punching home a rebound off a shot by Paul to give the Lady Tigers a two-goal advantage at the break.

Following a ceremony at halftime to honor the three seniors — Briauna Azan, Cecily Carter and Samantha Hirshberg — the Lady Tigers nearly let the Celtics back into the game. O’Hara came out attacking on offense and dominated play in the first eight minutes.

“We kind of had to wake up a little bit,” Cairer said. “We might have gotten a little distracted at halftime.”

Greer provided the wake-up call, working the ball to the middle of the field and blasting a shot that made the score 3-0. Once again, the Celtics tried to put pressure on Sharp, but she continued to guard the goal fiercely and turn away repeated shots.

Fulmer finally put the Celtics on the scoreboard at the 9:30 mark when she fought off two defenders and rolled a shot past a diving Sharp to cut the lead to 3-1.

The Lady Tigers answered quickly, as Greer showed her strength to get the final score.

As Greer dribbled toward the middle of the field, she collided with an O’Hara defender, but she kept control as the defender fell to the ground. The charging keeper was no match for Greer, and she punched home the final score of the game.

“I thought we played real well as a team,” Cairer said. “We had the effort and execution. For once it fell together.

“They’re a tough team. That’s the first time we’ve ever beat them. They usually just beat on us. It was good to see. It’s a good win right before districts, too.”

sports@sedaliademocrat.com