Burnett busts loose against Lander

Freshman midfielder Lyric Burnett scored the first hat trick in school history as the GCSU women’s soccer team defeated Lander University 5-0 Sept. 14 at Bobcat Field at West Campus.
Burnett came off the bench in the second half to score three goals on three shots in only eight minutes for the hat trick, and to set the school record for most goals in a single game. The win pushed the Lady Bobcats’ unbeaten streak to four games and improved their record to 3-1-1, and 1-0-1 in the Peach Belt Conference.
Coach Robert Parr said he was happy for Bennett’s performance because she was able to break out of the slow start that she had in the previous four matches. Burnett had zero goals on eight shots prior to the match with Lander.
“She has had plenty of opportunities in our earlier matches this season, but has just missed the finishing touch,” Parr said. “So (the hat trick) gives her a boost of confidence for her to know she’s got that finishing touch back in.”
Bennett’s teammates enjoyed the fact that after each goal, Burnett celebrated by pretending to twirl a lasso over her head.
“Coach Parr said you need to celebrate (when you score a goal) and that was the first thing that popped in my head,” Burnett said.
Burnett came into the game during the second half after the Lady Bobcats built a 2-0 lead thanks to two goals by sophomore midfielder Hayley Ferrell. A breakaway pass set up Jamie Nevin Ferrell’s first goal from freshman forward and the second goal came off a rebound from a shot on goal.
“Jaime sent me a good ball on the first goal, which was very unselfish, and I was right in front of the ball,” Ferrell said. “On the second goal, the ball came right to my foot.”
The offensive outburst was due, in part, to the Lady Bobcats taking 27 shots against Lander, two more shots than the Lady Bobcats have averaged in the previous four matches.
“In practice, we have been really working on the offensive side lately and our main objective is to score,” Ferrell said.
The Lady Bobcats’ win was also the fourth consecutive match in which they did not allow their opponents to score. Lander took only 12 shots during the entire match. The Lady Bobcats have not allowed a goal since their first match, in which they allowed four goals.
“Our team defensive unit has improved a lot this season because it was a weak spot for us last season,” Parr said.
The Lady Bobcats picked up three points in the conference standings for their win over Lander, which was the second match in a five-game stretch of PBC teams the Lady Bobcats have to face.
The stretch began on Sept. 8 with a 0-0 tie against USC Aiken and concludes with a matchup with USC Upstate today at 7 p.m. and a showdown with defending PBC regular season co-champion Columbus State University at home next Wednesday.
“Every time you can get a win in conference, it’s huge,” Parr said, “And it helps make up for the fact we dropped a couple of points in last match.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 22 2006. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry