It took only 15 seconds for one team to find the net when the Rochelle varsity girls soccer squad faced Mendota on the road in its season-opener Monday evening.
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MENDOTA — It took only 15 seconds for one team to find the net when the Rochelle varsity girls soccer squad faced Mendota on the road in its season-opener Monday evening.
The Lady Hubs found themselves in an early hole after the Trojans converted on a through ball to take a 1-0 lead in the opening seconds of play. Mendota added two more goals in the first half, and despite conceding three second-half goals to the Lady Hubs, the Trojans hung on to defeat Rochelle 6-3 and dropped the Lady Hubs to 0-1 to start the 2019 campaign.
“I thought our girls did an excellent job moving the ball,” head coach Brad Male said. “There were definitely some nerves out there since this was our first game, but I thought we did some good things toward the end. We had some miscommunications in the back, but overall I was very happy with our effort.”
Mendota scored four unanswered goals to start the game before Rochelle finally found the back of the net in the second half. The Lady Hubs made the score 4-1 after sophomore forward Ayah Sbeih found senior forward Olivia Piloni on a short crossing pass behind the Mendota defensive line. Piloni sent the ball passed Trojan keeper Bianca Espinoza in the 57th minute.
“Communication will be the key for us in the back this year,” Male said. “They caught us off guard at the start, and I thought the girls were excellent after that. We played a solid 20 minutes of defense to start the second half before they were able to attack us again.”
Rochelle conceded two more goals soon after, as Mendota took a commanding 6-1 lead before the Lady Hubs bounced back with two goals in as many minutes. As the clock wound down, Rochelle scored goal No. 2 in the 73rd minute when Piloni assisted freshman defender Lizbeth Milan, who booted the ball into the Mendota net from about 20 yards away on the near side of the field.
Piloni and Sbeih linked up for Rochelle’s third and final goal in the 74th minute. The senior sent a short pass through the middle of the Mendota defense, and the sophomore launched an angling ball into the left corner of the Trojan net.
“It always comes back to our communication, and that first goal was a game-changer for us because it upped the girls’ confidence,” Male said. “I think their confidence showed near the end of the game. It’s just going to make some more work from us to keep the ball moving.”
