By GALE CAVNESS
pressbox1.com

With the preliminaries out of the way, the top two teams in District 14-AA are set for a soccer showdown tonight.

Top-seeded Dyersburg and No. 2 Martin Westview put their semifinal opponents aside Tuesday night to earn berths in tonight’s championship round at Dyersburg Middle School. The title tilt is set to begin at 6:30.

“We’re looking forward to the challenge,” DHS coach Lance Roy said in a telephone conversation Wednesday. “Westview’s a great team and is coached very well. It’s going to be a hard-fought game and should be a good one to come out and watch.”

The Lady Trojans moved into the championship round with a 6-0 triumph over Dyer County in semifinal play. The Lady Chargers topped Trenton 3-0 in the other semifinal contest.

Dyer County, the fourth seed, eliminated fifth-seeded Gibson County in a Monday night skirmish to earn its spot in the semifinals.

Dyersburg senior Rachel McCollum put the host team ahead of the Lady Choctaws with a shot over the goalie’s head at the 13:39 mark of the opening half. Two minutes later, sophomore Deanna Plewa found the net for the Lady Trojans to make it a 2-0 contest.

After the break, DHS junior Ashley Storey drew a foul inside the Dyer County goalie box and was awarded a penalty kick. Emma Caylor, a talented freshman for the Lady Trojans, finessed a shot into the corner of the net to make it a 3-0 affair.

Plewa booked her second goal of the game six minutes later and Dyersburg had a 4-0 lead. When Caylor found the net for her second goal, the advantage was 5-0.

Marci Coleman, a DHS junior, scored the sixth goal.

Roy was pleased with his team’s effort, but was also quick to credit Dyer County coach Jonathan Watford and his improving Dyer County club.

“It wasn’t an easy win,” he said. “It was even early and the Dyer County kids played their hearts out. They’ve turned into a good team and they’ll get better in the coming years.”

According to the DHS mentor, Dyer County’s speed caused problems.

"The Lady Choctaws are really fast,” he explained. “Once you trap the ball you only have about a second or two to react before you are guarded by one, two and sometimes three players.

The Lady Trojans, the leader in the district race since the beginning of the campaign, bested the Lady Choctaws twice in regular-season competition. Dyersburg won a 13-0 contest on its home course at DMS and claimed a 6-0 victory in the rematch in Newbern.

In tonight’s championship round, Roy hopes his team can match its performance against the Lady Chargers from earlier in the campaign. In their initial meeting of the year, Dyersburg claimed a 5-0 victory at DMS.