Lady Tigers fall to Liberal, 2-0

March 23, 2011

SHAWN YORKS/The Leader & Times

Guymon's Denesse Longoria, left, heads the ball as Liberal's Crystal Tiscareno defends on Tuesday at Redskin Field in Liberal, Kan.

By SHAWN YORKS
The Leader & Times

LIBERAL, Kan. — Guymon Lady Tigers head soccer coach Michelle Davis can’t do anything about the wind. A strong southwest wind that had been swirling around Redskin Field the entire first half suddenly switched direction and roared straight out of the north — right as the second half kicked off.

That put it at Liberal’s back in the second half, keeping Guymon on the defensive and allowing Liberal to pull out a 2-0 win with two late goals by senior Crystal Tiscareno.

“Our first half we just dominated,” Davis said. “We were controlled, we had our personnel in the right spot. “Then the wind shifted. As soon as we touched the ball, the wind just comes into our face.”

Both teams had their scoring opportunities in the first half, but neither team could punch it through. The Lady Tigers (0-1-1) out-shot Liberal 7-4 in the first half as senior goal keeper Brenna Hutchins saved each shot the Lady Redskins took.

Then came the wind shift.

Liberal (1-0) out-shot Guymon 16-2 in the second half, and Hutchins recorded 10 saves.

Liberal finally broke through the Lady Tiger defense at the 5:22 mark when Karina Vasquez placed the ball just above the leaping Hutchins and right below the post from Brenna’s right about 15 yards out.

Liberal quickly went on the attack, and Vasquez scored again at the 2:20 mark to put the game away.

Davis was pleased with her team’s defensive performance, especially Brenna’s senior leadership.

“Brenna’s dynamite,” Davis said. “She knows how to read the ball, she knows how to direct her defense. She takes it very personally.”

Freshman Denesse Longoria was at sweeper in Guymon’s 1-3-4-2 defense, and senior Kalisa Mora was also hard to beat, playing right on front of Longoria.

“We just kind of broke down there at the end,” Davis said. “I just need my girls to stay in condition, we really got tired.”

Once Liberal finally scored, the wind went out of Guymon’s sails.
That’s something Davis doesn’t want to see anymore.

“We’re done with that, that’s the old Guymon,” Davis said. “I told the girls that when they get a goal on us, instead of putting our heads down and walking in the middle, you put your head up and you go attack. We’re not used to that train of thought and we’re working on changing that.”

Guymon hits the road to Chickasha on Thursday for a tournament, where it will face Elgin Thursday at 4:30 p.m. The Lady Tigers then turn around and play Chickasha's Fightin' Chicks at 7:30 that night.

"And that's after a six hour drive," Davis said. "That's a long day."