BELLVILLE — Taylor Huff reached another career milestone Friday night but Madison’s three-time All-American took a backseat to freshman teammate Nevaeh Lewis during the first half at the Colt Corral.
The speedy Lewis had a first-half hat trick and Huff netted her 100th career goal midway through the second half in a 5-0 win over Clear Fork.
“I’m so proud of her,” Huff said of Lewis. “She just did amazing and stood out so much.”
Lewis’ debut was not unlike Huff’s first game in a Madison uniform. The University of Tennessee-bound senior scored all four of Madison’s goals in a 4-2 win over Clear Fork in 2017.
“I was really scared at first because I didn’t know how to play with the other girls and how they worked. It was kind of new for me,” Lewis said. “It feels amazing.”
Lewis scored her first career goal with 35:10 remaining off an assist from Chesney Davis. She made a long run to make it 2-0 with 29:42 to play in the opening half and added a header off an Ashleigh Bechtel corner kick with 21:39 remaining before intermission.
“She can light it up,” Madison coach Zac Huff said. “She moves fast and she has good skills.
“To have a hat trick in the first half, that’s awesome.”
Huff reached the century mark midway through the second half She dribbled the length of the field and scored with her left foot with 18:16 remaining, giving the Rams a 5-0 advantage.
“It was good to get my 100th goal,” Huff said.
Madison returns almost everyone from last year’s Division II state runner-up team. Expectations are high as long as the season doesn’t get short-circuited by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re keeping our fingers crossed,” Zac Huff said.
While Madison’s lineup is loaded with veterans, Clear Fork coach Brittany Bechtel’s roster included seven freshmen.
“To play seven freshman and really have no clue what their game play was going to look like … this was really about trying to figure out who is going to step up,” Bechtel said. “It’s a work in progress. We knew (Madison) was going to tell us where we were. “There’s still a lot of stuff to work out.”
