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MABLETON - Whitefield Academy girls soccer coach Lou Nardi figured his No. 12-ranked Lady Wolfpack had their work cut out for them against top-ranked Lovett.

That turned out to be the case as Lovett scored a convincing 5-0 win over Whitefield in a battle of Area 9AA/A foes on Thursday.

Lovett scored three goals in the first half and added two more in the second half.

For Nardi, Lovett simply had too much firepower for his Lady Wolfpack.

"They're a good team all the way around," Nardi said. "We've got a good team, but they're on a higher level."

It was the second straight loss for Whitefield Academy (6-4, 3-2), which fell to Fellowship Christian, 4-2, on penalty kicks Tuesday.

Nevertheless, it has been a successful season so far for a young and inexperienced Whitefield team that has exceeded expectations in a tough area that includes state powerhouses Walker and Lovett.

"We've had a tough schedule this season and we don't have a lot of experience, but the girls have worked hard and they've played well," Nardi said. "They're playing above expectations."

It was the fourth win in a row for Lovett (8-0-2, 4-0), a state semifinalist in Class AA/A last year, and the third straight shutout, which included a 7-0 win Wednesday over Mt. Paran.

Lovett coach Tony Patino was pleased with his team's effort as the Lady Lions get back in playing form in their second game after taking two weeks off for spring break.

"We did all right," Patino said. "We're still having a tough time getting over spring break hangover, but we played a good game."

Ariel Salton scored two goals, while Chappell Loudermilk, Addie Schoen and Kacy Hardy added one goal each for Lovett.

Loudermilk put Lovett on the scoreboard when she blasted a shot past a diving goalkeeper Grace Wright with 32:30 remaining in the first half to give the Lady Lions a 1-0 lead.

Schoen increased the Lovett lead to 2-0 when Schoen headed the ball into the goal with 16:52 left in the first half.

Lovett got a first-half hat trick when Salton blasted a shot into the goal from close range for the first of her two goals in the game with 6:05 left in the half.

Whitefield had an scoring opportunity that fell just short towards the end of the first half when Anna Williams nailed a long shot that was grabbed by Lovett goalkeeper Caitlin Torie with 38 seconds left.

It didn't take long for Lovett to add to its lead in the second half as Saltin blasted a shot into the goal with 37:00 remaining in the game for her second score of the contest to increase the Lady Lions advantage to 4-0.

Hardie completed Lovett's scoring when she scored on a header with 27:57 left in the game.

Whitefield had a couple of chances to score later in the second half when Williams dribbled the ball deep into Lovett territory before having the ball knocked away by Loudermilk with 22:01 remaining and Danielle Hesse blasted a long shot that was stopped by Torie with 15:08 left.

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