August 29, 2012

Lady Tiger soccer opens season with 5-2 win

Taking less than one minute to score its first goal of the season, the Cowley College women’s soccer team never trailed in a 5-2 win over Garden City Tuesday in Arkansas City.

“I was very happy with how the entire team played,” Cowley head coach Dane Straight said.

Sophomore midfielder Ludmila Duarte Elias put Cowley on top only 53 seconds into the game as she received a pass from freshman Callie Jones and blasted a shot into the goal from outside the box.

Freshman forward Siara Price would give Cowley a 2-0 lead by scoring off an assist from Kierstyn Legg with 19:10 left in the first half. Less than two minutes later, Garden City pulled within 2-1 on a goal by Ana Guevara.

With time winding down in the first half, freshman Brittany Pratt scored off an assist from Price to give Cowley some breathing room.

“Any time you can score heading into halftime you gain some momentum,” Straight said.

Duarte Elias, who scored three goals all of last season, notched her second goal of the game off an assist from Sammy Miller a little more than eight minutes into the second half.

“Mila (Ludmila) set up so many things for us and did a great job,” Straight said.

After Garden City got an unassisted goal from Alexa Ortiz with 34:03 remaining, the score would remain the same until Price scored her second goal of the game off an assist by Jones with 2:40 left to play.

With two goals and an assist, Price had a first game to remember.

“I was impressed with how she played,” Straight said.

Freshman goalkeeper Caitlyn Cosme stopped several shots including a penalty kick early in the second half. 

The Lady Tigers will now prepare for their first road test of the season as they will play at Kansas City Wednesday, Sept. 5 at 11 a.m. The game vs. Kansas City will be the first of three straight road contests.

Kansas City, which is in its first year fielding a team, was picked 13th out of 14 teams in the conference.

“I don’t know what to expect from Kansas City but I am much more at ease after getting this one out of the way,” Straight said.