Lady Chicks lose home opener 1-0

Jim Hammons' young Lady Chicks dropped a tough 1-0 loss to Harrah in their home opener last night at Hampton Field. Panther forward KC Denney scored the lone goal of the match on a gift off the Chick crossbar six minutes in and it held the rest of the way.

Chickasha played well and created many good opportunities with some nice ball movement, but their inexperience hurt them finishing.

Freshman keeper Amy Witt did a good job in her first start in net but got burned on the freak play as the teams were still feeling each other out. Harrah midfielder Karlee Jones got off a solid hit from about twenty yards out but the ball struck the crossbar and came right out to Denney's feet just outside the six. She had a wide open net and one-touched it back in for the score.

The Chicks actually controlled play for most of the match but were just unlucky. With Kelsey Springstead out, junior Alicia Cave moved up top to help freshman Kayla Brosius and sophomore Kaycee Coponiti took over at attacking mid. They worked well together but their timing was off just enough to turn what will be scores in a week or so into Harrah saves.

Sophomore defender Terani Nixon saved a sure second goal early in the second half when Jones got by her girl at the elbow and got loose on an open run from the left side. Nixon rotated over quickly and forced Jones to alter her shot and it went over the net instead of in.

The Chicks rallied and got control of the midfield back and started pressing again but like the first half, the timing was off a bit and connections were just missed.

With a half now under her belt, Witt came up with some solid saves in the second half. She stuffed Nicole D'Alhuna on a breakaway with three minutes left and picked off a Denney attempt in the closing seconds.

The Ladies will be back out on Saturday for Chickasha Invitational tournament play and could have a rematch with Harrah in the afternoon. Chickasha will open play at 8:00 against Guymon on Hampton Field. Harrah is on the other side of the bracket and will play Yukon right behind them at 9:30.