Girls soccer: East Aurora downs Rosary
Officially, it goes into the record book as the fifth loss in as many games for Rosary's girls soccer team.
Upon further review, however, the Royals' 2-1 defeat at the hands of East Aurora (1-5) Thursday afternoon in the West Aurora tournament at Ken Zimmerman Field included plenty of positives.
After being outscored 23-0 in their first four games - and falling behind East Aurora 2-0 in the latter stages of the second half - the Royals (0-5) notched their first goal of the season when senior midfielder Katie Thielen beat Tomcats goalkeeper Daisy Quinonez on a low skidding shot with 4:12 remaining.
"I didn't think it was going in," said Thielen. "I'm very, very happy that at least we got a goal in this game."
Earlier in the second half, the Royals mounted an excellent opportunity to tie the contest at 1-1 but Thielen's left-footed blast from 20 yards out caromed off the crossbar.
"I thought my first shot was going in but it hit the crossbar," said Thielen.
East Aurora, which grabbed an early 1-0 lead on a goal by junior forward Leslie Carranza off a corner kick from senior midfielder Bianca Esparza just eight minutes into the match, extended its lead to 2-0 in the second half on Esparza's breakaway tally with 12:38 remaining.
At that point, Tomcats coach Obed Mendoza became increasingly concerned despite his team's 2-goal lead.
"It's a dangerous score," Mendoza said of the 2-0 margin. "You see it all the time in soccer. It's just two goals.
"When they scored one, we were having a hard time," added Mendoza. "We were very nervous but that's why we love this game - because it wasn't easy. For us, there is no easy game."
The Tomcats entered Thursday's action having scored just 2 goals in their first five games.
"We really wanted to win at the end," said Mendoza.
Rosary coach Janice Eddington was pleased with her team's competitive spirit despite playing a bit short-handed.
"We have six varsity players on spring break so we're struggling with our crew here - kind of limping along," said Eddington. "But we scored our first goal of the season and we had some great combo play with a lot of substitutes and JV players.
"It was great that were finally getting some chances," added Eddington. "Their keeper made some great saves. We got a little unlucky with the crossbar one (shot)."
Rosary nearly tied the score in the closing seconds of the first half when junior Emma Porteous' shot in front of the net was deflected aside by Quinonez (4 saves).
"That's something we've been working on - that kind of intensity," said Eddington. "We saw some good things today. I'm hoping to get our full crew back on Monday."
"We're improving a ton," said Thielen. "What I like about our team this year is we never give up."