The Oak Hill Golden Eagles have been on a bit of a roll lately, and Tegan Phillips is a big reason why.
The senior midfielder has always been a sturdy goal scorer throughout her high school career, but in recent games, she has taken it to another level, and against North Miami on Monday evening, she put together one of her best performances of the 2020 season.
Phillips recorded four goals, three of which came in the second half, Carlee Biddle added a goal and two assists, and the Golden Eagles won their third straight contest with a 6-1 triumph over the Warriors.
Phillips opened the scoring early in the first half, before scoring three goals in the second half to put the Golden Eagles fully in control. As a team, the Golden Eagles recorded 24 shots, 22 of which were on frame.
Together with Biddle, Melissa Kluevein, and Kristin Travis, Phillips put consistent pressure on the North Miami defense, creating multiple scoring chances for both herself and her teammates throughout the contest.
Additionally, Oak Hill’s defense was stout, allowing just two shots – both of which came in the second half with the game already well in hand.
“Our defense played very well,” Oak Hill Head Coach Alex Kenworthy said. “They had some speed on their team, but we played them smart and did some good things. I was proud of them.”
Oak Hill needed less than four minutes to find twine to start the contest. Biddle threaded a perfect pass to Phillips, who then deposited it into the bottom left hand corner of the net for a 1-0 Oak Hill lead.
However, Oak Hill was kept off the scoreboard the rest of the first half, as North Miami goalkeeper Alison Smith and the Warrior defense did an excellent job of neutralizing several quality scoring opportunities.
Feeling that the team had taken their foot off the gas a little bit, Kenworthy and assistant coach Sam Metzger gave the Golden Eagles some tough love at halftime. The message was received, as the Golden Eagles came out in the second half with renewed energy.
“In the first half, we started off extremely slow, but we had a little halftime speech, and [we] were able to light a fire under them,” Kenworthy said. “[We talked] about aggressiveness and intensity. We got going in that second half.”
In a span of 4:45 to start the second half of play, Phillips singlehandedly put the game out of reach for the Warriors, scoring three goals to give Oak Hill a commanding 4-0 advantage.
In her last four games, Phillips has scored nine goals – five in the last two matches.
“She’s learned the game pretty well,” Kenworthy said of Phillips. “She’s running angles this year, and she is being found by her teammates and scoring goals. She makes it difficult for defenses to mark her.”
The Golden Eagles added a pair of insurance goals late in the match, courtesy of Biddle and Grace Marsh, who recorded her first tally of the season.
Along with Biddle’s two assists, Kluevein also recorded a pair of helpers in Oak Hill’s victory.
“Almost every goal was assisted,” Kenworthy said. “That tells me they were working together. They stepped it up, and it showed on the scoreboard.”
With the victory, the Golden Eagles improved to 8-5-1 on the season, and will be back in action on Thursday against Hamilton Heights.