Rosewood - James Kenan soccer

By Allen Etzler
Published in Sports on April 22, 2015 2:20 PM

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Just seconds after Carmeci Jimenez put the ball in the back of the net to salvage hope for a James Kenan a comeback, she dribbled toward the goal one-on-one with Rosewood goalie Jala Holloman.

Holloman showed the aggression her coach Kevin Martin has been looking for all season when she came off the goal line and took away the angle for Jimenez's shot and saved it.

It was one of Holloman's seven saves as Rosewood fended off the Tigers, 5-1, in Carolina 1-A Conference play Tuesday evening.

"This is fun, you know it's physical and I'm a strong person so it's been fun playing goalie," Holloman said. "It has been kind of hard trying to decide when to come out or stay in, but I've been getting better at it."

The first-year keeper didn't have much to do in the first half, as the Eagles possessed the ball for much of the first 40 minutes. Rosewood successfully attacked down the right side of the field as midfielder Payton Lane fed her forwards with good through balls and used her speed to put pressure on the Tigers' back line.

"We didn't really plan it to be that way," Martin said of the team's attack. "But that's where the run of play took us and we were really strong on that side with Payton ... she's been a good player for us."

Lexi Mercer broke the tie in the seventh minute when she dribbled around two defenders and easily tucked away her shot. Shortly after, Mercer outran the Tigers' defense to a long pass and scored her second goal.

It was one of the few times all game the Eagles's offensive attack resembled their offense from last season. Under first-year coach Martin, the Eagles have focused on possession -- short passing and dribbling -- rather than kicking long balls and using speed to run on to them.

"We've been trying to get them to pass the ball around a little bit more and maybe even dribble a little bit more." Martin said. "We have wanted them to make better decisions rather than just kick the ball in the direction they're facing. I was delighted with how they did that tonight."

Rebecca Fitzmaurice added the third goal for the Eagles just before halftime.

Rosewood rode the wave of James Kenan's offensive attack early in the second half, and escaped a strong attack by giving up just one goal.

And with 12 minutes left, Tiffany Baldwin put the nail in the coffin as she tucked away a goal that deflected off the keeper. Mercer finished off her hat trick in the 71st minute.

"We played well this was actually one of our better performances all season," Martin said.