Socastee girls gain confidence after win over St. James

Socastee has found some motivation.

Following a dominant 18-7 win Friday over St. James in lacrosse action, the Braves feel like they’re in good shape and have a the right mindset.

“We’re using this game as a positive outlook on the future of the program and the future of the season,” said Socastee coach Kelly Butler, whose team improved to 2-2. “We’re definitely making a lot of changes, and I think the girls are taking it and running with it, which is good.”

After getting out to a quick 1-all tie, the Braves scored the next four goals to take command and they never looked back.

Natalie Cafiero scored four goals, and Hayley Fergus and Rachael Harter each scored three goals to lead Socastee. Meanwhile, Amariah Lawson and Lyrentha Johnson had two goals apiece, and Jackie Turner had one goal and two assists. Goalkeeper Joey West recorded seven saves for Socastee, which had 28 shots on goal.

“I think we played really well; [the key] was ball movement,” Butler said. “We’re doing a lot better, we’re working on a few things on defense so we’re seeing our defense working together really well. I think our attack played great, our midfield transition was awesome. It was good, I had no complaints.”

Socastee opened the season with an 18-13 victory over Carolina Forest before dropping the next two contests to Ashley (N.C.) and Bishop England.

Butler feels her team has improved tremendously and the Braves will be put to the test as they they travel to play Wando on Wednesday.

“Those were two really good teams and it was a learning experience, definitely,” Butler said of the pair of losses. “Coming back, we were able to take from those two losses and apply them to this one and get the victory. This was a nice win for us.”

This story was originally published March 4, 2016 at 10:16 PM with the headline "Socastee girls gain confidence after win over St. James."