Adjustments lead Rams past Greensburg Salem

By DEAN
DELLAMALVA JR.

MVI Sports

Tuesday night’s girls soccer match between Ringgold and Greensburg Salem was changed to Offutt Field in Greensburg so fans of the Rams could attend the game. 

Ringgold rewarded its faithful for traveling and secured its first win of the season, taking down the Golden Lions, 3-1, in Section 2-3A.

The Rams (1-1, 1-1) spent most of the game possessing the ball in the Lions’ defensive end and peppered Salem keeper Jordyn Anderson with shots.

Despite the possession and pressure, the Rams didn’t score until very late in the half. The sharpness just was not there for Ringgold.

“The first half, we were a little sluggish with our attack,” Rams coach Olivia Wilkerson said. “We talked about it at halftime and we changed some of our positions around to best suit us offensively.”

The change was bringing sophomore Carly Lutz, junior Eleanor Bucchianeri and sophomore Katelyn Ferrence to the top of the Ringgold attack and it paid dividends early in the second half.

“They just really worked well together and were able to generate some offense,” Wilkerson said. “After that we were off to the races.”

Meanwhile, Greensburg Salem’s offense had a difficult time penetrating the Rams back line. Every ball sent in by the Golden Lions was either kicked back out or chased down by the defense, paced by sophomore Morgan Walsh.

“Morgan Walsh is my unsung hero,” Wilkerson said. “She’s going to continue to do incredible things back there. Collectively, the defense as a whole is up for the job. They know they have a young keeper back there, so they are really controlling the field, communicating and working off each other.”

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