Walker, Duggan lead Creek past Edison

Mar 13, 2024

Aug 29, 2023

WINTERSVILLE — Indian Creek’s dynamic duo of Kaydence Walker and Ashley Duggan continue to get the job done for the Redskins.

Walker recorded an hat trick while adding an assist, and Duggan netted a brace and two assist leading the Indian Creek girls’ soccer team to a 7-1 victory against rival Edison Monday night at Kettlewell Stadium.

The Redskins delivered four goals in about seven minutes to break the match wide open in the second half. The streak turned the hosts’ lead from 3-0 to 7-0.

“It did,” Indian Creek (2-3) head coach Danny Lawrence said about the run breaking things open for his team. “Things started to click. We took a lot of long shots in the first half from 18-20 yards out. We want to work the ball deep and get it across the face of the goal.

“Your odds of scoring go up when you get the ball across the face of the goal as compared to taking shots from 20-25 yards out. We figured that out. Things are better when you take things you do in practice and you do them in the game. We did a better job when we started doing that.”

The Wildcats competed throughout the match, but the Redskins had to much firepower up top for Edison to contain for the whole match.

“We had to wake up,” first-year Edison (0-3) head coach Emily Waggoner said. “School has just started, and we are going to have to get used to doing sports and school. It’s what it means to be a student athlete. We got a little tired, unfortunately.”

Maddie Ujcich also contributed two goals for the victors, while Bella Allen tallied an assist.

Elizabeth Hope made four saves in goal for Indian Creek.

Erika Miller recorded the lone goal for the Wildcats. The goal was un assisted as she scored on a rebound off of a miss penalty kick.

Avah Reed made 12 saves for Edison.

Duggan opened the scoring when she scored on free kick with 36:23 left in the first half giving the girls in a red a 1-0 lead. Duggan added her second goal about 13 minutes later when she scored off a corner kick by Allen to increase Indian Creek’s advantage to 2-0 with 23:53 remaining to be played before halftime.

Duggan’s goals were the only two scored in the first half.

“We did compete well, especially at the beginning,” Waggoner said. “We just have to get it into our heads and I have to remind them that they are good and that they can do this. It is a mental barrier for us.”

A bobbled ball found its way across the line 32 seconds into the second half as Walker scored her first of the night to give Indian Creek a 3-0 lead. Walker produced her second goal with 25:23 left to play before capping off her hat trick with her third of the match to extend the Redskins’ advantage to 5-0 with 23:05 remaining on the scoreboard clock.

Ujcich contributed her first goal with 20:49 left in the match to bring the running clock into play, and she chipped in her with second goal more than two minutes later to make it 7-0.

Miller’s goal – Edison’s first of the season – brought the scoring to a close.

“We were very excited about that,” Waggoner said. “We set up plays in practice, and we use them in the game. The girls are working hard. We got a scoring opportunity with that PK, and we were able to follow it up and get a goal. We are excited about that. We can build on that.”

The visitors had other opportunities to score in the match, however, Hope and her defense were up to the challenge. Freshman Alison Kireta created some chances from the outside.

“They are trying to figure things out,” Lawrence said about the Wildcats. “No. 17 (Kireta) has a lot of speed and energy, and No. 7 (Miller) has a good ball. They stood out. They have some individual talent. These just need experience. They might have some age, but they don’t have that experience.”

Indian Creek outshot Edison, 24-7, and the Redskins ripped 19 shots on the goal, while the Wildcats tallied five.

“We want to try and share the wealth,” Lawrence said. “We played well against Brooke, but then Saturday we took a step back. We want to remain positive.

“We lost Jocelyn Saltsman Thursday in the JV game. That was my mistake. We had some girls fill in. We tweaked some things, and I think we are going to do the same thing for our game against East Liverpool on Thursday.

“We had some girls step up. We had Emilia Taylor at center back. We had Bella. She had an assist. She did all right. Destiny (Ratkovec) is doing a good job in the middle.

“We are working on sharing the ball and sharing the wealth. People just look at stats, and you might not win any awards. Maddie came up to me after the St. Clairsville game and asked me if she could try sweeper. We just have to continue to do what we work on.”

Indian Creek’s offensive pressure resulted in Edison having to take 17 goal kicks, while the Redskins took six. The home team had a 9-1 advantage in corner kicks.

“They had a lot of shots on goal,” Waggoner said. “Our defense played pretty well for the most part. Things just got into our heads at time. We have to be mentally strong when we get into situations like that when they break past our defense.

“We will get there. We just want to improve every day and every game.”

Indian Creek is scheduled to play Buckeye 8 rival East Liverpool at 6 p.m. Wednesday on the road. Meanwhile, Edison is slated to play St. Clairsville at 6 p.m. Thursday at home at the Edison Unified Sports Complex.

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