By By Tony Krausz / assistant sports editor
Sept. 24, 2003
Once Lamar School left winger Sumner Brown started going no one could stop her.
The freshman Lady Raider notched a natural hat trick in the first half of Lamar's 4-1 win over the Central Hinds Academy Cougars Tuesday afternoon at the Northeast Park Soccer Complex.
Brown, who has played soccer for eight years, said it was the first time she has scored three goals in a single game.
The winger's goals came within a four-minute period midway through the opening half.
Brown's first score was the product of good positioning by the Lady Raiders' forward.
Lamar right winger Kristin Nicholson sent a crossing pass from the corner across the Cougars' net. The ball ricocheted off Brown's hip into the left corner of the net for a 1-0 lead at the game's 15-minute mark.
"I liked the goal off the cross," Brown said.
Her second goal came in the 18th minute, as she attempted a cross of her own from the left corner.
The forward's pass was knocked down by Cougars goalie Logan Ellis, but the ball trickled into the left side of the net giving Lamar a 2-0 advantage.
Brown capped her scoring stampede by drilling a shot into the right corner of the net at the 19-minute mark.
Lamar's Kelly Brown fed Sumner Brown the ball with a through pass at the 50-yard line. The freshman picked up the pass and raced past four CHA defenders for a one-on-one confrontation with the goalie.
She shot the ball from five yards inside the Cougars' box into the bottom, right corner for a 3-0 lead.
"(Brown) is one of my youngest," said Lamar head coach Eddie Escobar. "She is real quiet and soft spoken, but you can see her out there, she just tears it up. There are not many players that can keep up with her. I am really impressed with her."
Lady Raiders' Ashley Bridges scored the team's final goal with eight minutes remaining in the first 40-minute half.
The Lamar midfielder picked off a CHA clearing pass at midfield and streaked down the center of the pitch into the goalbox.
Bridges released a shot just inside the 18-yard line that went through the goalie's hands into the net for a 4-0 lead.
Escobar played his junior varsity squad for the first 30 minutes of the second half, as the Lady Raiders protected their large lead.
The only Lady Raiders starter that remained in the game was sweeper Cheryl Luquire, who played goalie in the first half.
"The more (the JV team) plays, the better for them it is," Escobar said. "I wanted to keep one experienced player in there, Cheryl Luquire. She is one of our best players. Just having her back there, she saved us quite a bit. It was nice to see her out there helping the younger girls out, and she communicated quite well with the young players. She is a good leader."
CHA's Jamie Davis notched the Cougars' lone goal in the 18th minute of the second half, stealing the ball from a Lamar defender from about 35 yards out and powered a shot from inside the goalbox into the left side of the net.
Lamar goalkeepers Luquire and Sarah Beth Fouts, who played the second half, notched the one-goal win for the Lady Raiders. The two goalies combined to turn away 11 of 12 shots from the Cougars, seven of which came in the second half.
The Lady Raiders wrap up their regular season against Pillow Academy, the team that eliminated them from the playoffs last year, at 5 p.m. Thursday at the Northeast Park Soccer Complex.