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In girls soccer: Rangers rout Enosburg in season opener

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Rangers junior Karamae Hayman-Jones prepares to send the ball deep into Hornets territory in Friday's win. Apart from playing air-tight defense, Hayman-Jones pitched in with an assist in the Rangers’ impressive season opener.  Photo by David Dudley
Rangers junior Karamae Hayman-Jones prepares to send the ball deep into Hornets territory in Friday’s win. Apart from playing air-tight defense, Hayman-Jones pitched in with an assist in the Rangers’ impressive season opener. Photo by David Dudley

copyright the Chronicle September 10, 2014

by David Dudley

Tyrah Urie scored three goals to lead the Lake Region Rangers to an impressive 7-0 victory against the Enosburg Falls Hornets Friday.

The heat and the humidity didn’t slow the Rangers a bit. Through the first ten minutes of play, they played sticky defense, consistently pressuring the Hornets.

Rangers Coach Brad Urie was pleased with his squad, who held the Hornets to only four attempts on goal throughout the entire game.

“Kiara [Hodge] really helped control the field defensively,” Coach Urie said. “And when Karamae Hayman-Jones started to communicate, she took charge of the defense — like I know she can.”

On offense, the Rangers pushed the ball deep into Hornet territory again and again. In fact, for much of the afternoon, the Hornet defense was charged with protecting the goal from a relentless Ranger squad, who kept penetrating deep into Hornet territory, before rifling another shot at Enosburg goalie Hailey Burrington.

Burrington played strong in the game’s opening, but the Rangers kept breaking through the Hornets’ defense, overwhelming Burrington with shot after shot.

In the end, Burrington faced 27 shots, saving 19 of them.

With all that pushing, something had to give.

The Rangers struck for the first time — with 15:58 left in the first half — as freshman Kiara Hodge scored off an assist by Tyrah Urie.

Not a full minute had passed when the Rangers scored again, as Olivia Owens set up Urie for the first of her three goals.

This kind of game isn’t uncommon for Urie, apparently. She’s scored 64 career goals since joining the Rangers, and she’s broken every Rangers scoring record there is. In short, Urie is one to watch.

Though the margin was wide, the Hornets certainly weren’t in need of effort. They played their hearts out. Players waiting to be subbed in could be heard shouting words of encouragement to their teammates on the field. Those returning for rest were clearly exhausted, drenched in sweat, emotion painted on their faces. They gave it their all, but the Rangers were just too much.

“We just clicked,” Coach Urie said. “We had good production from all areas of the field, and we had a number of young players step up.”

Molly Horton, Haley Kennedy, and Alexis Smith pitched in with a goal each.

Katie Menard, Karamae Hayman-Jones and Kiana Royer each dished out an assist.

“When we get good passing, when we communicate, when we work together, that’s the kind of production we can get,” Coach Urie said. “We’ve got a lot of girls who can put the ball in the net.”

Still, such a flurry takes its toll. With little more than 16 minutes left in regulation, the Rangers were visibly slower. They let their guard down, allowing the Hornets to push the ball deep into Ranger territory on a number of possessions.

“Why are we quitting?” Coach Urie questioned from the sideline. “There’s still time on the clock.”

And with that, the Rangers picked it up again. Though they didn’t score, they also didn’t give up any goals, handing the Hornets a shut-out loss.

After the game, the Hornets circled up around Coach Stephanie Machia. They did their post-game stretches in near silence. Undoubtedly, they’re looking forward to the rematch scheduled for Wednesday, October 8.

contact David Dudley at [email protected]

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