Knightettes earn nine corners in road victory

FREDERICKTOWN — The Farmington girls soccer team had nothing to show for their effort despite several minutes of sustained offensive pressure in the first half on Wednesday night.

But freshmen Briley Busenbark and Jessica Hicks helped the Knightettes eventually break through during the 28th minute, and host Fredericktown was unable to counter in a 2-0 final.

Farmington (1-1) fired 17 total shots and earned nine corner kicks once seizing momentum for good after Fredericktown (0-2) controlled play in the offensive zone during the opening moments.

Lady Cats keeper Rachel Settle made two key stops and defender Melia Fall cleared a dangerous rebound during a three-minute span that saw Farmington squander four corner kicks against the resilient Fredericktown backs.

The Knightettes finally cashed their momentum into a goal when Hicks controlled a failed clearing attempt. Her short pass found the right foot of Busenbark, whose 20-yard drive powered through the fingertips of Settle.

Farmington mounted another scoring threat before halftime, but Settle turned away successive close-range shots from Jessica Allison and Busenbark to keep the margin at 1-0. Settle finished the contest with 13 saves.

Senior standout Heather Lewis added a lethal strike from nearly 23 yards out when a blocked Farmington corner kick squirted free from a cluster of players in the 56th minute.

Fredericktown senior Lisa Hammel used her individual hustle to create a partial break late in the action, but a sliding shot sailed over the crossbar with three Farmington players converging quickly.

Teammate Molly Ward was bumped down seconds earlier while tracking a cross in the Farmington box, but the contact was ruled incidental. Fredericktown managed only three shots after intermission.

Jessica Watkins handled two sharp-angled drives from Lady Cats sophomore Haley Stevens just after the opening kickoff, and notched the shutout in goal with six saves for the Knightettes.