Playing somewhat of a lackluster first half, the Centralia girls soccer team ramped up the intensity in the second to defeat Rochester at Tiger Stadium Tuesday night, 3-0.
Junior Jacqueline Maldonado scored the Tigers’ only goal in the first half in the 30th minute, putting a header through the back of the net off a spot-on corner kick from Olivia Gruginski, but were otherwise held off the board despite 18 shots, and 10 on target.
After some halftime adjustments and added motivation, the Tigers came out in the second half and immediately picked up the energy, with Lily Babka scoring in the 42nd minute off a find from Judy Vallejo, and Izabella Hernandez, a freshman, scoring in the 66th minute unassisted.
“We were more energized, I switched some stuff around,” Tigers coach Noel Vazquez said of the second half. “Anahi Corona really started picking up the pace and pushed for more intensity, she was a big reason why our intensity picked up in the second half.”
The win puts the Tigers at 4-8 overall, with a 3-5 record in league play, still looking to battle for the fourth seed and some postseason action in a pigtail crossover game as districts loom.
They’ll look to continue to build up wins as they play on the road in Shelton Thursday. The Tigers defeated the Highclimbers, 2-0, earlier this season on the first go-around through league play.
