sports@piedmontnewsonline.com
With frustration mounting and nerves fraying inside of a blustery F&M Bank Stadium Tuesday evening in Piedmont, McKinley Lee made a play.
Lee deflected a pass past Guthrie’s keeper 26 minutes into what had been a first half full of offside calls and near misses to break a scoreless tie and send Piedmont on its way to a 6-0 win over the Blue Jays (6-7).
Senior Kilie Swanson put in a hat trick behind Lee’s early goal and freshman Kenley Gold scored twice as Piedmont advanced to a 5A quarterfinal at home Friday against Santa Fe South, who beat El Reno 2-0 on Monday.
Lee wasn’t necessarily the likely choice to be the first Piedmont player to find the back of the net. She doesn’t rank among the top five goal-scorers on the team this season, but head coach Brad Brucker had a feeling his team would have a surprising contribution in the game.
“I told them that someone would end up doing something you’re not expecting and it ended up being (McKinley),” Brucker said. “That’s a good development for us, because when she’s confident she’s a load to handle.”
With anxiety calmed, Swanson took over after Lee’s goal. The USAO signee worked her way free from a physical one-on-one challenge inside the box to score Piedmont’s second goal just more than two minutes later.
With five minutes left in the half, Swanson chased down a pass from Aspen Cope, created just enough space between herself and a Guthrie defender then chipped a shot off her leg and in to give the Lady ‘Cats a 3-0 halftime edge.
“I love it when Kilie plays nasty and physical up top, because it really puts a lot of pressure on a defense,” Brucker said.
Swanson saved her best for last by adding a wild goal in the 40th minute from a difficult angle deep in the corner. Swanson’s shot sailed toward the goal while fading away from Guthrie’s keeper, who couldn’t control the ball before it bounded into the net.
Gold, the ‘Lady ‘Cats’ leading scorer on the season, netted both of her goals in the second half.
With the win, Piedmont improved to 15-1 on the season and advanced to the quarterfinal round of the playoffs for the fourth straight season.
Despite all of that, the prevailing feeling on Piedmont’s side afterwards was that they could play better and likely will have to execute at a higher level to reach the state title game, this team’s hopeful destination.
“This team is hungry,” Brucker said. “I’ve got kids upset because they didn’t contribute as much as they wanted to tonight and that’s a good thing.”
