Lee Advances with Blowout Win

LEE, Mass. -- Emily Hall scored in the sixth minute of play to start an early barrage for the Lee girls soccer team, which went on to a 7-0 win Friday over South Shore Charter in the preliminary round of the Division 5 State Tournament.

 

Giana Carlino startd the play on the game-winner with a cross from the right wing that went off the keeper and found Hall, who finished to start the Wildcats on their way to their first win in three games.

 

"The way we played, I'm happy with," Lee coach Giana Guachione said. "And to end on our home field with a win is really nice."

 

Twenty-seventh-seeded Lee (13-4-1) advances to face No. 6 Rockport in the Round of 32.

 

Three minutes after Hall opened the scoring on Friday, Ella Simone converted a direct free kick from about 20 yards to make it 2-0.

 

In the 16th minute, Carlino collected Mia McDarby's throw-in on the right wing touch line, took the ball toward the corner and fired a shot that went off the keeper's fingertips and into the goal.

 

Hannah McDonough made it 4-0 with 21 minutes, 44 seconds left in the the first half when she intercepted a South Shore clear from the back and drilled a shot from 25 yards out.

 

"It was really nice to see us hit the back of the net again," Guachione said. We've been struggling with that the last few games, but it was nice to see us make connections.

 

"We've been really working on our first touch in practice -- one-touching, passing, sending the ball, looking where we're sending it to. A lot of those things I saw today, so Iw as excited. When you see what you practice [in the game], you're like, 'Yes. We're getting somewhere.' "

 

It stayed 4-0 until half-time, but in the first minute of the second half, Hall scored her second goal, this time converting Ava Lucy's cross from the right wing.

 

Cara Korte and Simone tacked on insurance goals for the Wildcats, who scored five or more goals for the ninth time this season but went over two goals for the first time since Oct. 16.

 

Before the first half ended, Guachione was getting her substitutes into the game, and, by the time it was over, just about everyone in a Lee uniform saw significant time on the pitch.

 

"At practice, we can play everybody, but to see them get in the game and do what we did in practice and get as many people as we could off the bench was great," Guachione said.