Rosewood shuts out Princeton

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on April 13, 2011 1:47 PM

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PRINCETON -- One defensive miscue gave Rosewood the edge it needed.

Cory Smith capitalized on the mistake.

The junior forward scored in the 18th minute, and finished with two goals in the Eagles' 2-0 shutout over Carolina 1-A Conference girls' soccer archrival Princeton on Tuesday evening. Rosewood (6-3-2 overall) seized sole possession of first place in the league at 3-0-0.

"This was about as equal as you can get," said Eagles head coach Ryan Wells.

The Dogs controlled possession in the opening half and coaxed the Eagles into five offsides infractions. Wells' club struggled to work the ball through the midfield and couldn't generate a consistent flow on offense.

The contest turned in Rosewood's favor nearly midway through the half.

Flirting with another offsides call, the Eagles' Logan Bill ran onto a loose ball and flicked it forward to Smith. A Princeton defender misjudged the play which kept Smith onsides, and forced keeper Amber Brush to come too far off her line to assist.

Smith dribbled around a diving Brush and tucked the ball away into the open net for a 1-0 advantage. It was Smith's seventh goal of the season.

"We got lucky putting the first one in like we did," said Wells.

Princeton reeled off back-to-back scoring chances in the 29th and 30th minutes, but Rosewood keeper Ellen Morgan easily smothered each shot inside the 6-yard box. The freshman ended the night with six saves and earned her third straight shutout between the pipes.

Each team missed goal-scoring opportunities in the second half. The Dawgs had several touches inside the 18-yard box, but couldn't finish in a maze of purple jerseys.

"I think their defense was pretty good," said first-year Princeton head coach Eusebio Montoya. "I think we had a little bit trouble getting forward. Our mids were 30-40 yards apart from our forwards, so once our forwards got the ball, they were out-numbered. I think in the first half we did better getting the ball in there splitting the defender, which was not so easy in the second half."

Bill couldn't convert on an open-net chance in the 67th minute.

Princeton's Madison Parker appeared to score the equalizer in the 71st minute, but was penalized for a hand ball. Smith tallied her second goal 6 1/2 minutes later off another Bill assist to seal the outcome.

"That (Parker goal) would have changed the whole game," said Montoya. "At the same time, she was a yard away from the player. If the ref saw it, he was closer to the play than I was."