GIRLS SOCCER: Suyes scores 4 in Wilson win

FISHERSVILLE – Freshman standout Lindsay Suyes scored three times in the first 15 minutes of the match to propel Wilson to the Shenandoah District tournament title, defeating Riverheads, 5-1.

Suyes, named first-team all district along with three of her teammates, tallied a fourth goal in the second half. Chelsea Tolbert scored the final Wilson goal 90 seconds after Jessica Glover scored the lone Gladiators’ goal midway through the second half.

Suyes credited her team’s defenders for her success.

“They hold the line perfect and it’s amazing what they do,” Suyes said. “And they send it over and it’s just ready for us forwards to get it.”

Wilson will host Madison Monday in the Region B tournament. The Hornets, in two matches against Madison this season, have a win and a draw. Riverheads, meanwhile, travels to George Mason, also on Monday.

Hornets’ coach Scott Crist said the key to the match was getting off to a quick start, and with Suyes leading the way, they did just that.

“We talked about starting strong, and they came out the first 15 minutes, and I think we put Riverheads on their heels a little bit,” Crist said.

Suyes scored her first in the fifth minute, beating Riverheads goalkeeper Liz Mahaney with a right-footed blast from 18 yards.

The second goal from Suyes came off a perfectly-placed cross from Angelica Thacker in the deep right corner, with the freshman Suyes rising above two defenders to head the ball past Mahaney in the 13th minute.

Less than three minutes later, Suyes had already scored a hat-trick. Following up on a shot from Thacker at the top of the 18-yard box that hit the right post, Suyes slid in ahead of Mahaney and scored in the right corner of the net.

Riverheads struggled to get in behind the Hornets’ defenders, with the wanted to use the Gladiators’ best chance coming in the 18th minute with Jenna Arneson’s speculative chance from 40 yards parried off the crossbar by Hornets’ goalkeeper Brittany Reid.

“We talked about pushing our defense up, trying to compact the field,” Crist said. “We knew we had more team speed, wanted to take advantage of that. We knew that if they played a ball over top we had plenty of time to get back and get it.”

Said Wilson defender Ashleigh Harris: “It was definitely teamwork in trying to keep the field compressed.”

Reid said communication has been a key to the team’s successful defending.

“We talk a lot,” Reid said. “We know where everybody is. We really click well together.”

Suyes put Wilson ahead 4-0 in the 58th minute with a right-footed shot from six yards.

The Gladiators pulled one back in the 61st minute with Glover’s 22-yard right-footed shot beating Reid to the left corner.