By Staff
By STEVE FRANKLIN, Sports Writer
HAVELOCK — Tuesday night proved to be a double whammy for the Lady Pam Pack.
Not only did Washington fall to Coastal 8 Conference foe Havelock, but it may also have to do without the services of senior defender/attacker Blaine Prescott for awhile.
Prescott went down with a right knee injury in the final two minutes of a scoreless first half with the Pam Pack’s captain watching from the sideline, the Rams took full advantage in the second half.
The Rams scored a pair of goals in the first nine minutes of the second half and never turned back as they downed Washington, 3-1.
Lady Rams’ sophomore Sarah Porter got the scoring started four minutes into the second half as she raced down field and ripped a shot past Pam Pack goalkeeper Ashley Crompton to give the Rams a 1-0 lead.
Five minutes later, Lexi McDonald made it 2-0 as she buried a bullet into the top right corner of the net off a crossing pass from Keri Gorman.
The Pam Pack cut the lead to 2-1 in the 64th minute as Hayley Stowe shymied past several Rams’ defenders and rocketed a goal past an outstretched Alex Stout.
But less than a minute later, the Rams responded with a goal of their own.
Porter delivered a beautiful corner pass that found the head of Christiana Picot, who buried the header in the top of the Pam Pack net.
According to Havelock coach Kate Wernersbach, the third goal was the crucial point in the contest.
“That was really a key moment,” Wernersbach said. “It’s 2-1 and (Washington’s) got the momentum after scoring a goal. So it was crucial for us to score, because we got the momentum back. Their second goal could’ve hurt us, but by answering back, I think it gave us a real morale boost.”
The high-scoring second half was a far cry from how things panned out in the first 40 minutes of play.
The Rams threatened often in the first half, firing 13 shots at Crompton. Havelock’s best scoring chance came in the 16th minute as Crompton made a diving stop on a shot by Porter, then scrambled back to her feet to make leaping save on a scoring attempt by Bethany Dinger. Crompton also turned away a header by Porter in the 34th minute that looked like a sure goal, until the Pam Pack senior goalkeeper deflected it away at the last moment.
Washington had six scoring opportunities in the opening 40 minutes. Beth Bachelor and Hayley Stowe each had one-on-one chances against Rams’ goalie Alex Stout, but came up empty handed, sending the two teams to halftime deadlocked at 0-0.
Havelock (11-6, 8-5) fired 29 shots on goal, to Washington’s 11. Stout made nine saves for the Rams, while Crompton made 26 stops for the Pam Pack (9-8, 6-6).
Washington will travel to West Carteret tonight, before returning home for the season finale tomorrow night.
The following week, the East Region playoffs begin.
“We’ve got senior night Thursday and the prom on Saturday, so we’ve got several things going on this week,” Kozuch said. “Once we get past this week’s distractions, hopefully we’ll be able to focus on playing soccer and getting ready for the playoffs.”