LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN -- The fall of 2010 so far has been very mild in terms of the changing of the weather, but this week at Covenant, the weather has finally decided to take a new form. There has been more rain this week than the whole month of October combined, and the Lookout Mountain and Chattanooga areas have even been under tornado watch on multiple occasions. This inclement weather is what moved the Lady Scots soccer game a day forward from Tuesday at 6:00pm to Wednesday at 6:00pm.
The idea of playing the game in dry weather on Wednesday ended quickly in the afternoon as the rain started to fall heavily yet again. But Scotland Yard held up great, and there seemed to be no way around having last night's game. Even Spelman College's news that the team would arrive an hour late due to problems with their bus did not prevent the Lady Scots from seeing action in their eighth game on home turf.
So after twenty-five hours of waiting, the Lady Scots soccer game finally began at 7:00pm Wednesday night. If there was any wonder that the weather was going to be a factor, the ball skipping on every bounce and the sound of every footstep sloshing in the soggy playing surface made it pretty clear that the conditions were indeed a factor.
The twenty-five hour delay seemed to be more beneficial to the Lady Scots who came out strong and were dominant from the very beginning. The Lady Scots amassed 13 shots in the first twenty-four minutes, one of those being Kasey Craft's goal- assisted by Eliza Drew- that gave Covenant the quick 1-0 lead less than 16 minutes in.
The dominant play was not only on the offensive side of the ball, but the Lady Scots defense was as stout as ever and locked Spelman into the defensive side of the field, rarely allowing them possession past midfield. Yet with this iron wall defense, Spelman managed two shots in the first half that Bethany Holman had no trouble saving. Though there were plenty of opportunities, the Lady Scots only managed to get only one ball passed Spelman keeper Taylor Bolden in the first half.
As if the rainy and soggy conditions were not challenging enough, the weather took another change toward the end of the first half when fog started rolling in under the lights. But this did not hinder the Lady Scots aggressive style of play as they put up 5 more shots in the first 13 minutes of the second half. Sophomore Eliza Drew had one of the best attempts of the night with the ball knuckling off her foot in the wet conditions. Bolden had no chance to save it when her jump was mistimed, but the ball struck the top portion of the crossbar and sailed out of bounds.
In the sixty-second minute, the Lady Scots scored their second goal of the game. Elizabeth Oates was in the right place at the right time as the ball from Jill Schlink found her foot off a tricky skip. Oates did not hesitate as she scored her second goal of the season.
The Lady Scots kept the pressure up for the remainder of the game, but the earlier goals from Craft and Oates were all they could manage. As the final buzzer sounded from behind thick fog, the Lady Scots found themselves undefeated in their last two games.
Covenant will celebrate the seniors for the last time at home on Saturday as they take on Huntingdon College at 3:30pm.
