Three quick strikes spark Eagles past Warriors

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on March 15, 2016 1:48 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

It looked more like a basketball play.

The loose ball gets collected, kicked downfield in baseball-like fashion and results in an easy goal-scoring chance for the wide-open striker.

Rosewood teammates Payton Lane and Tayzlie Tripple connected on that type of play Monday evening. Tripple gained control of a loose ball at midfield, zipped a one-touch pass to Lane, who dribbled between two defenders toward the goal.

She ripped a shot past Eastern Wayne keeper Kierra Christie to give Rosewood a 3-0 lead. Lane's mark turned out to be the game-deciding goal in a 4-2, non-conference decision over the Warriors.

"We work on it in practice a lot, going wide and then crossing it to the middle and somebody is always there every time," Lane said. "I thought we played excellent. We were really aggressive and worked together."

Especially midway through the opening half.

Rosewood seized a three-goal advantage with a 71/2-minute stretch. Lexi Mercer opened the scoring in the 15th minute on a through ball from Ada Rivera. The senior received a nice touch pass from Hannah Daniels to make it 2-0.

Lane converted her goal in the 22nd minute.

"I thought the other team worked the ball, but we kept going, kept pressing them and kept being aggressive and didn't give up," first-year RHS head coach Kevin Martin said. "Obvious, that (quick three goals) killed them off ... took the wind out of their sails. I'm happy with the whole game, but particularly that 10 minutes."

Eastern Wayne (1-2-2 overall) began to create some movement off the ball and Brennan Dove, the team's top offensive threat, finally got some touches.

Not surprisingly, Dove factored into the Warriors' first goal -- a corner kick to Yessie Guitierrez, who camped out at the near post and tapped the ball into the net.

The score energized the Warriors, who constantly stepped into passing lanes and disrupted the Eagles' flow of offense. Rosewood (3-2-0) back-pedaled on defense for the next few minutes until it gained possession and received a corner kick.

Tripple intended to send the ball into the 6-yard box, but her shot floated into upper back 90 of the net. It was Tripple's first goal of the season -- ironically on her first CK attempt.

"I'm not sure I've ever seen something quite like that," Martin said. "It went in ... we were delighted with that."

The teams stretched the field in the second half, and the game turned into -- well -- a basketball game. Each team countered and pushed the ball into their respective 18-yard boxes, but neither couldn't finish the play.

Christie and goal-keeping counterpart Jala Holloman stayed busy between the pipes. Christie notched eight saves on 16 Rosewood shots. Holloman logged 12 saves on 20 shot attempts by the Warriors.

"We're having girls who are learning positions, especially in the back field, so it's going to be another rebuilding year for me," EW head coach Scott Summers said. "I'm used to it. The biggest thing is we just need to play harder defensively than the other team, and make sure we work harder to get the ball up and way.

"And not give the other team free easy goals."