Delaney Cooley’s hat-trick and a pair of goals by Kamryn Boyette lifted South Jones over Laurel 5-1 Thursday night in Ellisville.
"Laurel is always a tough game because they play so fast and physical," said Lady Braves soccer coach Tony Buckley. "I thought Laurel gave us lots of trouble. They are well-coached."
South Jones and Laurel traded goals in the first two minutes of Thursday's Region 5-5A finale. Seconds into the match, Boyette netted a goal for South Jones on an assist by Cooley. Laurel countered moments later.
“Kamyrm, I thought, was the player of the game,” added Buckley. “She played a tremendous game for us.”
Boyette added a goal to her night’s resume in the second half.
After her opening assists on Boyette's quick strike in the opening minute, Cooley found the back of the net three times. South Jones has relied on Cooley's play on the field in years past, but this year with four starters sidelined with ACL injuries, Buckley said the team relies on her even more.
“She’s like a one-man band in a sense because she’s trying to overcompensate for the fact that [several of our girls are not out there] because of injuries,” added Buckley. “She’s great. We’ll definitely miss her next season.”
The Lady Braves finished 4-2 in Region 5-5A and will be the No. 2 seed from the region in the upcoming playoffs.
“It is playoff time now,” said Buckley. “We’ll play away at Brookhaven. We’ve had to adjust because we have four starters that are literally on crutches, so I give our girls credit for the way they’ve handled that. We’ll see how far we can take it as the ole clique goes, one game at a time.”
