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Lady Wildcats Open Season With 4-2 Win Over Lady Raiders
by Mike McGee [Varsity Photos] [JV Photos]
Lady Wildcat senior Kirsten Heikkinen battles the Coffee County keeper for a ball during Tuesday night's 4-2 Lady Cat win.

  All’s well that ends well, and the Tullahoma Lady Wildcats’ 4-2, season-opening win over visiting district rival Coffee County Tuesday night ended up just fine.
  But, there was nothing easy about it. The Lady Raiders jumped to a 1-0 lead in the first five minutes on a hustling play after a Tullahoma defensive breakdown. Lady Wildcat sophomore Ashley Zidan came off the bench and provided a spark up top, and she tied the score midway through the first half when Hillary McNeese fed her the ball and she beat the keeper one-on-one.
  
Coffee County took a 2-1 lead into half time on a strong shot to the far post, but the Lady Cats came back to tie it early in the second half when Kirsten Heikkinen got off a left-footed shot after another feed from McNeese.
  
Sophomore Katlin Buchanan put Tullahoma on top midway through the second half with some nifty moves in front of the goal to beat a defender before putting the ball into the net. The Lady Cats’ fourth goal came on a great shot from 30-plus yards out from yet another sophomore, Catherine Chappell, whose powerful shot bounced off the cross bar and off the leaping keeper on its way into the net.
  
In addition to battling each other, both teams were forced to battle the oppressive heat for the 80-minute match. Officials did lend a hand by stopping play for five minutes at the 20-minute mark of both 40-minute halves to let the players catch their breath and get water.