SE Tennessee News

Brittney White scored five goals, Hannah Vecsey scored twice and had three assists and the Lady Flames rolled past Palm Beach Atlantic, 13-6 on a picture-perfect Thursday evening at the Ray Conn Sports Complex.

White also posted nine draw controls and has 31 goals and 77 draw controls on the season. The junior is second in the NCAA in draw controls and 12th in goals.
The Lady Flames led 4-2 at the half but dominated the second half with an 9-2 before two late goals by the Sailfish. Lee outshot Palm Beach Atlantic, 31-12 and placed 25 shots on goal. Led by White the Lady Flames held a 17-6 edge in draw controls in the contest.

Maggie Luzier and Callie Curtis also scored a pair of goals. Makenna Luzier and Katelynn Sweeney tallied one goal each.

Defensively the Lady Flames made shots tough to come by all night long for the Florida club. Hannah Nee caused four turnovers and scooped up three ground balls. Jaylee Giffin also had three ground balls to go along with two caused turnovers. Kaylee Kangas posted six draw controls.

In goal Kaleigh Bernard and Caleigh Smith combined in the victory. Bernard started and earned the win, allowing two goals and recording three saves. Smith finished the final 30 minutes and yielded four goals while posting two saves.

"I thought it was a total team effort tonight," said Lee coach Derrel Martin. "Obviously Britt (White) was tremendous both in the draw and offensively, but we got production from a lot of different players tonight. There are some things we need to clean up. I thought we turned it over too many times in the first half, but we made some adjustments, got to the ground and picked up some balls better in the second half and that helped seal the win. We know we'll be challenged on Sunday, but we look forward to the opportunity and we are ready for conference play."

Palm Beach Atlantic stayed within shouting distance in the first half thanks to outstanding play from goalie Courtney Rausch. In 50 minutes of work Rausch gave up nine goals but came up with 11 saves, several from point-blank range.

Sara Metheny scored twice for the Sailfish while Oliva Larges, Mattie Davis, and Ella Howlin tallied the other scores.

Lee snaps a five-game losing streak and draws back even on the year at 5-5. The Sailfish fall to 2-5 on the season.

The Lady Flames will open Gulf South Conference play on Sunday in Saint Augustine, Fla. as they take on Flagler. The Knights are 8-1 and ranked No. 15 in the country. Lee lost to Flagler last season in the GSC Semifinals. 

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