East Ridge secured its first win of the year as it opened up district play with a 5-1 defeat of Hixson. Freshman Salma Gomez played hat trick hero with her first half brace.
What looked to be a nasty match weatherwise turned out to be a pleasant evening as the rain ceased and the sun peaked out from behind the clouds just as the first whistle was blown.
As quickly as the weather changed, so too did the Pioneers find the opener. Gomez opened her account somewhat fortuitously when a deflected clearance landed between her and the Wildcats keeper. One swift touch around the number 1 saw her with a wide-open net and her first appearance on the score sheet.
The opener was the Pioneers’ only bit of luck on Tuesday night—their proceeding four goals were all more than deserved and evidence of the gap in quality of the two sides.
The bread and butter for East Ridge came in the form of counter attacks through the long ball. Sporting three up top with its wingers squeezing in and its 9 dropping deeper to draw the center backs in—the wingers would often find themselves in pockets of space and onside green grass in front of them.
Three out of East Ridge’s final four goals came off some sequence similar to that and Hixson seemed not to have an answer through the first 40.
Hixson’s defense struggled to handle East Ridges pace and tempo. Its back four often found itself out of position and unable to hold their line. When one on one with the Pioneers with the ball in front of them, the Wildcats were able to hold them up and force a turnover. The break down came when Hixson was forced into a foot race with the East Ridge forwards. The Wildcats’ positioning left them one or two steps behind, and without the pace to make up the ground—East Ridge soon realized this was the well to go to.
The Wildcats’ senior Chloe Howard showed the most promise in locking things down in the back. Her commanding presence allowed her to field general her team through the course of the game and her play backed up that authority.
Along with being responsible for putting out multiple fires on defense, Howard bagged the Wildcats’ only goal with a brilliant solo effort. Receiving the ball 30 yards deep in her own half, the captain weaved through the East Ridge team with equal parts skill and tenacity before finding the back post to level the score at one just 11 minutes in.
This sliver of hope only lasted six minutes, however, before Gomez netted her second on the night. From there on, it was all Pioneers as goals in the 19th, 25th, and 29th minute saw East Ridge jump to a 4-goal lead in the first half and all but wrap it up.
The Wildcats responded honorably in the second half—not allowing a goal and competing both tactically and physically. Despite this response, they were never able to find any attacking promise outside of Howards selective pushes forward.
East Ridge saw out the remaining 40 minutes to secure its first win of the season and first district win.
The Pioneers move to 1-0-1 as they look to travel to Harrison Thursday to face their newest district opponent Central High. Hixson fall to 1-1-1. They host Polk County on Thursday.
Score Summary:
East Ridge 5 0 – 5
Hixson 1 0 – 1
Goal Scorers:
East Ridge- Salma Gomez(3), Zoie Clark, Ludwika Cruz Argueta
Hixson: Chloe Howard