Ringgold gets revenge on Hillers

By Dean Dellamalva Jr.

MVI Sports

Ringgold avenged a season-opening loss to Trinity by downing the Hillers, 2-1, in Section 2-3A play Thursday at Joe Montana Stadium.

Freshman Elizzabeth Wilson scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal with just six seconds left in the first half. She also assisted on the first goal of the night for the Rams (6-4, 6-4) and was a stalwart on defense in the second half.

“(Wilson) was great and she could not see,” Ringgold coach Olivia Wilkerson said. “When it started raining, her glasses fogged up and she took them off. 

“I don’t know if I have words to describe how big her goal was, we needed that. In my team’s words, we needed to seal the deal and be able to move forward. That’s what that goal was for us. It gave us the confidence we needed.”

Ringgold kept the pressure on most of the first half. 

The Rams tallied 12 shot attempts in the first 40 minutes and had several opportunities on corner kicks. 

The game winner came on one of those Rams corner kicks off the foot of Ryan Wilson. The ball went out of bounds with less than 30 seconds to go and Wilson set the ball and booted it into play. 

A couple Trinity defenders attempted to clear the ball but it was stopped by Elizzabeth Wilson, who hurriedly shot the ball high to the upper left corner of the goal.

Despite the momentum of the late first-half goal, the Hillers (8-3, 7-3) came out with some great scoring chances. They kept the ball in the Rams’ defensive zone the first 20 minutes of the second half.

Then in the 55th minute, Ringgold striker Katelyn Ferrence left the game with an injury. A minute later, Trinity forward Alyssa Clutter beat a Rams defender to a long pass in and beat keeper Emily Doleno low right to cut the deficit to one.

To read the rest of the story, please see a copy of Friday’s Mon Valley Independent, call 724-314-0035 to subscribe or subscribe to our online edition at http://monvalleyindependent.com.