Warlassies heat up with 3-game winning streak
Owen goals come early and often against Mountain Heritage
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
March 31, 2022
The Warlassies kicked off at home, March 30, opening their Western Highlands Conference soccer match against Mountain Heritage as winners of two straight.
Twenty-nine seconds later, senior Mattie Lehman found the back of the net for her first of four goals, as Owen cruised to a 10-1 victory, maintaining a share of the conference lead and improving to 3-4-1 on the season.
The senior’s early goal opened the floodgates for the Warlassies, who were up 6-0 at the break, with Lehman scoring 3 in the first half. Kaylee Allison, Maesyn Gardner and Abby Reitzel each scored goals in the first 40 minutes.
Allison, who would finish the night with three goals, extended Owen’s lead six minutes into the second half, while Reitzel followed in the next minute with her second of two. The game ended, per NCHSAA rules, when the Warlassies took a 9-goal lead in the 56th minute. The home team took 44 shots in the contest, while the visiting Cougars managed 2.
The victory represented the team’s best offensive performance this season, and extended Owen’s winning streak to three games. The win keeps the Warlassies in a tie atop the conference with Madison, which defeated Mountain Heritage by the same margin the previous night.
The Warlassies struggled early this season, falling to 0-4-1 against non-conference opponents, including Pisgah, Reynolds and West Henderson. However, as players like Reitzel—a sophomore who led the team in scoring last year on her way to an all-conference selection—return to the lineup, momentum is building with Owen entering the heart of its WHC schedule.
Head coach David Fiest commended his team for its collaborative effort after the victory over the Cougars.
“We’re slowly getting our pieces back, and now the chemistry is showing,” said Fiest, who is in his 12th season as head coach. “We have a key player who is working her way back from an injury, and having her out there gave her teammates new energy.”
Reitzel’s ability to create space and put her teammates in position to score was a feature in Wednesday’s victory, as the Warlassies spent the majority of the contest in the attacking third of the field. Lehman, who found herself in front of the goal consistently throughout the match, demonstrated her ability to finish the attack.
“For us to be able to take a touch and turn properly, whether there’s pressure or not, and still find people in the right angles, that’s a big part of where we see the difference,” Fiest said. “Abby really helps that, and adds another dynamic for us on the field.”
The next step for the team, according to Fiest, is becoming more consistent in its execution of game plans.
“We work on a lot of repetitive things,” he said. “I like to see us doing our drills well, repeatedly. We’re showing good signs, now we just have to work on making it happen every time.”
The team is winning as the Warlassies look ahead to a key week in their effort to dethrone reigning conference champion Madison. Owen will host 4-2 Avery in a WHC match at 6:30 p.m., Monday, April 4, setting up a Wednesday, April 6 clash against the Patriots in Madison County.
“Right now we’re focused on Avery, which is a team we need to be prepared for, so we can’t look past that,” Fiest said. “But, both of these games next week are games we need to win.”
The Warlassies, who have outscored their opponents, 16-2, in their last three matches, have developed more confidence on the field during that time, according to the coach.
“Knowing that we can find the back of the net, something we struggled with at the beginning of the season, helps with that,” he said. “Now we’re realizing the ball does actually fit in the goal, and if we work hard we know we can put it in the net.
“It gives us just enough motivation and confidence, seeing it and feeling it, now we know it feels good,” Fiest continued. “I want us to use that. It’s a great feeling when these players know they can find the back of the net and win, so this is what we need to build on as we move forward.”
Photos of the March 31 match between Owen and Mountain Heritage can be viewed in the gallery at the top of the page.