Lady Riders record fourth shutout, 7-0
Jernigan during Tuesday's match at Roughrider Stadium. The Lady
Riders scored six first-half goals and defeated the Lady Tigers, 7-0.
(Photo by John Krueger)
CENTER -- The Center Lady Rider soccer team came out with more aggression than they have in the previous five games Tuesday night in their home opener here at Roughrider Stadium. The result was the squad recording its fourth shutout on the young season in a 7-0 victory over Tenaha.
The Lady Riders, who have allowed only one goal in five of its six games, improved to 4-2 on the year heading into Friday night's tough test against Kilgore. Center will travel to Kilgore for a 5 p.m. matchup. The Hallsville Tournament, which CHS was originally scheduled to participate in, has been cancelled. Tenaha dropped to 0-3 on the year and will participate in the Eustace TNT Tournament this weekend.
Five different Center players scored in the win over Tenaha as the Lady Riders scored six first-half goals en route to the victory.
"This if the first time this season we came out with an up tempo and were more aggressive than our opponent," said Center Head Coach Jonathan Vick. "We have been letting our opponents set the tempo early in games, and when you play teams in our district like Palestine and Jacksonville, we've got to be the one to take charge early.
"Tonight's game was a good confidence builder for us. We need confidence going into the Kilgore game because they're going to be a tough test. Kilgore beat Jacksonville 2-0 in a scrimmage, so our game with them will go a long way into knowing how ready we are for district."
Center scored three of its goals in the first 13 minutes of the first half. Just 1:58 into the match, junior Normal Ruiz passed to sophomore Maria Medrano who was in front of the goal and she put it in the net for a 1-0 Lady Rider lead.
With 9:05 gone, junior Emma Land pushed a pass to the middle of the field to Medrano and Medrano slammed in a shot from 25 yards out. It went into the left side of the goal for a 2-0 Center advantage.
Two minutes ,freshman Celia Gonzalez took a corner kick and fought off a defender, pushing the ball past the goalie for a 3-0 Lady Rider lead with 23:53 left in the half.
"We did a good job of putting pressure on them defensively, creating a lot of opportunity for our offense," Vick continued. "We also played some girls at different positions to take a look at some different things before we get to district."
The fourth Center goal of the first half came with 12:33 left when junior Ana Garcia received a clean shot off a Norma Ruiz miss and slapped it toward the goal. The Tenaha goalkeeper tried to stop the shot, but it trickled into the goal for a 4-0 lead.
Just over three minutes later, junior Stephanie Araujo stole the ball 15 yards in front of the goal, dribbled the ball and put the ball in the back of the net. The goal put Center comfortably ahead, 5-0.
Araujo scored her second goal of the game with 7:08 left before the break when she took the ball near midfield later scored on a 25-yard shot.
Center finished the first half with nine shots on goal, while Tenaha posted three.
Center goalkeeper Raquel Hernandez, on the way to recording her fourth shutout of the season, recorded three saves, with both of them being diving stops. The second was a penalty kick with no time left in the half.
In the second half the Lady Riders cranked out 21 shots, but only converted one, when Norma Ruiz scored on a penalty kick with 3:07 remaining.
"We worked on our passing game a lot, especially in the second half," Vick noted. "As a result, our passing was noticeably better tonight. I told the girls to make three passes before taking a shot and not to take any shots closer than 35 yards in so we would work on our longer shots. And what we found out was that our shots are stronger than we thought we are.
"But we do need to continue to finish our opportunities. Hopefully that will come in time."