East Fairmont cruises past Eagles, move to 5-0
Sep. 8—FAIRMONT — The East Fairmont Bees welcomed the Robert C. Byrd Eagles to East-West Stadium on Tuesday, and also welcomed back a key contributor back from injury.
Kierstyn Maxey, a sophomore who made first team all-state last season as a freshman, returned to the field against the Eagles, scoring two goals on the way to a 3-to-0 victory.
The win moved East Fairmont to 5-0, and the shutout marked the fourth time the Bees have held their opponents scoreless.
The first minutes of action saw the ball largely stay in the midfield, with passes frequently preyed upon by pestering defenders. Neither team was able to push onto the offensive until East's Madison Fortier capitalized on an Eagles defender whiffing on a deflection attempt on a throw in, getting a clean touch and following up with a grounded strike right past the goalie. Seven minutes into the first half, the Bees were on the board.
Robert C. Byrd made a push of their own into East's territory on the ensuing kick-off, and Maxey made her mark on defense before getting involved in Tuesday's scoring. She was quick to the ball, disrupting the Eagles every time it seemed they were poised to line up a shot. The persistence paid off, and the Bees worked the ball back to Robert C. Byrd's side.
As the game wore on, East Fairmont's passing improved, especially in the midfield. The improvement was one Bees head coach Eric Wright chalked up to a rising comfort level.
"It's a confidence thing," Wright said. "Every game you come out, you know teams, but you haven't faced them yet this year so you don't know exactly what they'll do. As the game goes on we get more confident because we see what we're able to do within what the other team is giving us. That's where we just get stronger as the game goes along."
With just under 17 minutes to go in the first half, Kierstyn Maxey converted her first goal of the night. Finding herself with some room with the ball after an errant Eagles header, Maxey squared herself up with a few well-placed touches, and let loose a strike that went right over the goalie's left shoulder.
Maxey was at it again with just under two minutes in the half, capitalizing on a quick touch from teammate Maddie Lott to send a shot from nearly 15-yards out right in between the top of the crossbar and the outstretched hands of the leaping goalie. The Bees would lead 3-0 at the half.
"I was feeling great," Maxey said of her return.
"For myself, I just want to keep scoring, assisting and connecting passes so we can keep our record up high."
The second half lead enabled a lot of different East players to see playing time, something that should only raise this team's floor as they remain undefeated.
"I'm feeling really good," Wright said. "RCB is a good team, and today was good because we got all our goals in the first half and were able to get some kids some playing time in the second half — kids who do good stuff for us in practice and some games they're not getting in, so this was a good game to get everybody in."
East Fairmont has outscored their opponents 12-to-2 in total this season, and have a rivalry match against Fairmont Senior on Thursday. It seems a different Bee has stepped up each game, and now with Maxey back in the fold, East is hoping to keep trending upward.
"We feel good," Wright said. "Every game we're trying to focus and work on different things. We talk about the same things, and we try and build on it each game. Sometimes it's doing the same things but just a little more focused."
"We have talent," Maxey said. "We have a lot of talent that will be really, really useful throughout the season. We're already doing better than last season in terms of connecting passes, playing through balls into the goal and finding the back of the net."
Reach Nick Henthorn at 304-367-2548 or by email at [email protected].