Gators hand Greene Central road loss.

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on August 28, 2009 2:48 PM

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SEVEN SPRINGS --  Coming off a successful season that ended with a Carolina 1-A Conference championship and a postseason berth, the Spring Creek boys' soccer team could not wait to get on the field for 2009.

They couldn't even wait for their new head coach.

With first-year coach Paul Estrada out of town due to a prior engagement, interim coach Amanda Ramfjord directed the Gators to a 5-1, season-opening victory over Greene Central on Thursday.

The Gators got on the board just nine minutes into the contest when returning standout Ricardo Rangle collected a loose ball and fired a shot past the Rams keeper.

"Ricardo and Angle (Sanchez) were leaders tonight," said Ramfjord. "I am not the full-time coach, so those guys being leaders on the field was very important for the first game."

Spring Creek's veteran duo got an offensive hand from freshman Victor Ortiz. The freshman buried two goals in the first half and pushed the Gators' advantage to 3-0 at the intermission.

The Rams, who played C.B. Aycock on Wednesday, could not recover from the early deficit.

"I didn't know how we would respond," said Greene Central head coach Jose Garcia. "We played without any subs against Aycock and I thought we played well. But tonight we definitely came out flat."

Spring Creek added to its lead midway through the second half when play began to get heated.

After a foul inside the 18-yard box, Rangle delivered his second goal of the game on a penalty kick. Just four minutes later, the Rams committed a second foul and gave Dante Ortiz a penalty kick which he executed perfectly.

"These guys work out together and play together all the time," said Ramfjord. "It showed tonight in the ability to pass the ball and create offensive opportunities."

Greene Central got on the board in the game's final minute when Ricardo Sanchez fired a free kick past the Spring Creek keeper.

On the night the Gators out-shot the Rams 14-11.

Spring Creek (1-0-0 overall) entertains Southern Wayne on Monday. Greene Central (1-2-0) plays host to C.B. Aycock on Wednesday.