Posted on 30 January 2014 by La Habra Journal
by Nathan Percy
La Habra Journal
In its Freeway League opener, the Sonora girls’ soccer team played a near flawless defensive game against Troy, only allowing a goal within the final minute of the second overtime period in a 1-0 loss.
Unfortunately, the Lady Raiders couldn’t replicate that same performance the second time around, falling to Troy 4-0 in wet and muddy conditions, Thursday afternoon at Sonora High.
The Lady Warriors took control early, putting in two goals in the 11th and 15th minutes as the forwards constantly applied pressure.
“We knew it was going to be a battle and we told the girls that if they didn’t come out with energy, we’d fall behind and that’s what happened,” said Alex Bengard, Sonora head coach. “In the second half, we stepped up our intensity level and the game changed a little bit, but it was too little too late.”
Senior forward Aliyah Jones put in Troy’s first goal in the 11th minute. An attempt by Amalia Serna to clear a corner kick bounced right to Jones, who tapped it in to the near side.
Four minutes later, midfielder Alexis Fuerte put a ball up top for Kaycee Hoover, who lofted a shot over goalkeeper Johanna Hultberg for a 2-0 lead.
Midfielder Caitlin Haugen added a goal for Troy (12-4-3, 5-1-0) just before halftime on a header to the near side off a corner kick.
The Lady Raiders strung together good offensive possessions at times, most of which involved Serna down the right side.
Sonora’s best attempt in the first half sailed out of bounds when Serna tried to cross from the corner.
The Lady Raiders’ fortunes were a little better in the second half. In the 43rd minute, Yesenia Navarro attempted a shot that swung wide off a cross from Serna.
Anna Saucedo then put Sonora’s first shot on goal in the 64th minute, but it was easily hauled in by Troy goalkeeper Hailey McKinley.
Fuerte added Troy’s fourth goal in the 73rd minute when her shot bounced off the cross bar and barely crossed the goal line.
The Lady Raiders (6-9-5, 2-3-1) will attempt to turn things around when they host Fullerton next Tuesday at 3 p.m.
“The game is over and we have to move on, what’s done is done,” Bengard said. “We have Fullerton at home, which is nice. We got a lot of our road games out of the way early, so we’ll get them at home and hopefully we can nick them..”
