Senior Marina Smith erupted for five goals and Toledo blew past rival Winlock, 8-1, on the road in 2B Central League play on Wednesday.
The Riverhawks won their sixth-straight victory and remain unbeaten on the season at 6-0 overall and 2-0 in league play.
Smith, who now has a county-leading 16 goals on the season, has made a huge leap after scoring just one goal her freshman year.
Smith scored goals in the 3rd, 19th, 40th, 53rd and 80th minutes, with Vanesa Rodriguez assisting on the opening goal — the Riverhawks’ only assist on the night.
“We came out the gate hard and the girls made a high-intensity plan to work the ball on both sides and take crosses,” Toledo coach Noel Vazquez said. “There were a lot of ricochets, a lot of loose balls where the girls stole the ball and scored.”
Briza Gallegos added a brace with goals in the 16th and 70th minutes, while Rodriguez notched a goal of her own in the 47th minute.
Angela Gil-Munoz scored Winlock’s lone goal in the 42nd minute.
“We just packed the middle because we can’t compete man-to-man, it’s just not possible,” Winlock coach Corny Sanchez told Ryan Peerboom of The Daily News. “Those girls are faster and stronger than we are and you can see that matching them one-on-one doesn’t work, so we have to play zone.”
Vazquez said Winlock put up a valiant effort.
“It doesn’t matter what Winlock’s record is,” Vazquez said. “It’s a small rivalry across the freeway and they always score on us. They always keep it interesting.”
Maxpreps released its high school girls soccer rankings for each classification on Wednesday and Toledo is ranked No. 1. Vazquez said he hopes the team doesn’t get overconfident by the top ranking.
“We have to keep our heads level if we want to keep the status quo,” Vazquez said. “It just puts a big target on your back.”
Toledo (6-0, 2-0 league) hosts Kalama (6-1, 2-0 league) at 6 p.m. Monday. Winlock (0-6-1, 0-1 league) travels to Onalaska (5-1, 2-0 league) at 6 p.m. Monday.
