By CHRIS SIERS
csiers@bedfordcountypost.com
BELL BUCKLE — Freshman Kaylee Martin put Cascade (13-5-2) on the board and the Lady Champions poured on four second-half goals in the 5-0 win over Richland in the Region 5-A semifinals on Tuesday night.
“Kaylee is such a consistent player. We can always count on her to come through. She’s got more hustle than anybody I know,” Lady Champion coach Wendy Williams said.
Cascade had several scoring opportunities throughout the first half, with the best chance coming in the 22nd minute when Lexi Comstock found herself in the left side of the box and fired a shot that sailed just over the crossbar.
The scoreless stalemate continued until Martin finally broke through in the 36th minute with a score from the left side to put Cascade up.
By halftime, the Lady Champs held a slim, 1-0 lead.
It didn’t take long for Cascade to pad its lead, with Martin again coming through less than two minutes into the second half with a breakaway goal, assisted by Olivia Winnett.
Winnett rejoined Cascade after being absent with an injury for the last few weeks and immediately made her presence felt in her return.
“She (Winnett) is such an important factor. She’s a selfless player. Sometimes what she does goes unnoticed because she’s not always the one scoring. She has such a presence in the middle and she’s able to feed the ball out. It really helps us a lot,” Williams said.
Winnett found the back of the net on her own score on a direct kick that ricocheted off the goalpost in the 74th minute for the 3-0 Cascade lead.
Winnett’s goal opened the floodgates of scoring in the final minutes, with Cascade tacking on two more scores.
Claire Smithson assisted Lexi Comstock in the 75th minute for a fourth Lady Champion goal.
Kelsey Shatley put a bow on the win with the final score of the night coming in the 77th minute.
While the match turned into a complete rout, Cascade controlled the match with a strong presence in the midfield that didn’t allow Richland to orchestrate runs on goal.
The handful of instances the Lady Raiders pressed past midfield, the Cascade back line held strong to preserve the shutout.
“We put a lot of trust in our backline. Our midfield does a good job of controlling it and slowing it down, but we put a lot of trust in those three in the back,” Williams said.
Cascade fired a total of 38 shots against Richland and Irais Rojas recorded seven saves in goal for the Lady Champs.
The win marked the 11th straight victory for the Lady Champs, who are peaking at the right time of the season.
Tuesday’s semifinal win, however, puts Cascade on a collision course with an all-too-familiar opponent in Huntland for the Region 5-A championship, which the Lady Champions will host on Thursday night.
Cascade previously defeated Huntland in a slim, 1-0 victory for the District 9-A championship.
In two regular season meetings, the Lady Champs claimed a 3-2 win and a 4-2 win over the Lady Hornets.
On Tuesday night, Huntland defeated Culleoka, 3-2, in the other semifinal.
Cascade will face Huntland on Thursday night at the Stable at 6 p.m.
Richland 0 0 — 0
Cascade 1 4 — 5
First Half
C — Kaylee Martin goal, Ella McGeary assist, (36th minute).
Second Half
C — Martin goal, Olivia Winnett assist (42nd minute).
C — Olivia Winnett goal (74th minute).
C — Lexi Comstock goal, Claire Smithson assist, (75th minute).
C — Kelsey Shatley goal (77th minute).