On a drizzling Friday afternoon, it was another home victory for the Denmark girls soccer team, as the Danes jumped into an early lead against South Forsyth and never looked back.
Danes head coach Jen Barr was out of town for the 10-3 win in Region 6-7A, leaving the coaching up to assistant Josh Jordan.
“We’ve been working on a couple of things to prepare for the rest of the season, and the girls stuck with the game plan pretty well," Jordan said. "It’s fun watching them execute.”
Following the breakthrough, the Danes missed their initial shot, but the ball rolled over to Mary Beth McLaughlin. The junior kicked into the net the ball with no hesitation, pushing the Danes advantage up to 2-0.
The series of goals didn’t stop there.
Senior striker Jordan Crosby encountered a double team, so she passed the ball to Stoddard. Crosby slipped past the double team to get the pass back from Stoddard and fired away with her left leg from 20 yards out for her goal.
After giving out a pair of assists to help Danes score, Stoddard got in the scoring column, as she outran her defender and misdirected South Forsyth’s goalie with a kick that landed in the right corner of the net. After a Danes player stole a pass from a War Eagle, it led Stoddard to score once again for a 5-0 lead.
The Danes continued to feed Stoddard, as she was the hot leg for the team. As she was chasing down the ball, the War Eagles goalie tried to close in, but Stoddard gave a final kick to avoid the collision. From there, she had a clear look at the net and slotted it in.
Denmark freshman striker Sophie Ashtar jumped the passing lane when South Forsyth's keeper tried to pass to a teammate, and Ashtar had an easy path to the goal to put the Danes ahead 8-0.
In the final 30 seconds of the half, McLaughlin tried to shoot a goal attempt in the face of a War Eagle, but it did not have enough leg power. War Eagles defender Mya Wende tried to kick it away, but instead, her kick went into the net for an own goal. Wende fell down to her knees as she realize what happened.
The War Eagles finally ended the scoring skid in the second half. Off of a corner kick, Carly Bramwell headed the ball into the back of the net. A few minutes later, Katie Kelly outran two Denmark defenders and forced a shot in to cut the deficit to 9-2.
Bramwell gave the War Eagles some hope by scoring another goal, but it wasn’t long until Crosby scored her third goal of the night to put the Danes on top 10-3.
With this win, the Danes remain unbeaten on their home turf at 4-0.
Denmark will resume action against North Cobb March 21 at home. Meanwhile, South Forsyth (1-11, 0-4) will play at Meadowcreek the same night.