By Stephen Henderson

It was a physical week for the Patrick County High School Lady Cougar soccer team; they lost two close matches in very tough games. Last Tuesday, the Lady Cougars lost to Martinsville 3-1. Friday, PC lost a close one to George Washington of Danville 5-4.

Brooke Holt scored the first goal for the Lady Cougars last Tuesday against Martinsville when ball shot by Z Cole bounced off the post and was booted in by Holt.

Maya Watson had 15 saves in goal.

“It was a very physical game, but I thought we played really well,” said Coach Sandra Rakes. “Brooke (Holt) was in exactly the right place to score that goal early on. When it came off the post, she was able to knock it in,” said Rakes.

“Being able to finish is something we’ve been working on in practice. We were able to win a lot of the 50/50 balls, but just weren’t able to capitalize on that,” she said.

“Martinsville got a couple of shots off in the second half when Maya came out and they were just able to get the ball by her,” Rakes said.

Friday, the Lady Eagles of GW were able to score in the first four minutes, but the Lady Cougars were able to even the score six minutes later.

“Every time they would score, we’d come right back to even it up,” Rakes said.

At halftime the score was tied at 4-4.

“The game got pretty physical in the second half,” Rakes said. “GW got the goal to pull ahead early in the second half. We had several good runs in that half and got off several good shots but just couldn’t find the back of the net,” she said.

Lydia Gunter got the first goal for PC. Candace Freeman scored a hat trick. Maya Watson got 12 saves for the night.

“When you look at the scores for this week, I don’t think you’re seeing the whole story. We played some of our best soccer this week,” Rakes said. “The things we talked about and worked on in practice are really starting to come into play,” she added.

The Lady Cougars have two matches scheduled for this week. Tuesday, they traveled to Tunstall. Friday, they host Bassett.