Mateo’s match-winner against West Point keeps RHS girls perfect in area play

The Russellville High School varsity girls’ soccer team picked up a 2-1 win over West Point on Monday night, remaining undefeated in area play and improving their overall record to 6-3. 

The victory gave the Golden Tigers the season sweep over the Warriors. Although it wasn’t as decisive as the 6-2 result Russellville secured when hosting West Point back in February, it still counts.

“West Point was strategic in their play. They definitely watched some film on us,” Russellville head coach Dalany Roberts said. “It was not quite the outcome that I was hoping for. We played a little sloppy there at the end and gave up a goal. But you know, a win is a win.”

The second-year head coach was looking for more goals. The Golden Tigers ended the game with 25 shots on goal, but just two of them ended up in the back of the net.

“The math there doesn’t quite add up,” Roberts said. “We just couldn’t quite finish tonight.”

The two shots that did beat the Warriors keeper proved to be vital ones. Nadia Mendez opened the scoring to give her her seventh goal of the season, a team high. Later, Gloria Sop got on the end of a cross to put away what would prove to be the game-winner. It was Sop’s third goal of the season.

The win makes it two-in-a-row for the Golden Tigers who went 1-1 on the road last week. Russellville dropped its March 4 match at West Morgan 3-0 but rebounded the next day with a 1-0 shutout of Brooks. Jessenia Mateo scored the match-winner against the Lions with her first goal of the campaign.

“(West Morgan) was a tough loss, but it was a win viewed through the lens of the result last year,” Roberts said. “This year it was a 3-0 loss compared to last year we lost 7-2, so I’d say that’s significant growth.”

“At Brooks it was raining the entire game. The conditions were terrible but Brooks came out to play. I think we played good given the circumstances and came out with a 1-0 win,” she added.

Evaluating where the Golden Tigers stand at this point in the season, Roberts said she’s seeing gradual improvement in a young squad that’s still working to get all the pieces in the right place.

“We compare a lot to last year just because I was a first-year head coach and we want to see continued improvement and growth as we continue to build the program. Last year, at this point in the season, we had 36 goals scored against us. This year only 16 goals scored against us…We’ve got ten more goals in our favor (this year) compared to last year. I think that shows that we’re improving and growing and moving in the right direction,” Roberts said. “We are a young team. We only have three seniors this year. We are a fluid team. We’re still trying to find players who are comfortable and fit in certain positions…Our defensive line has been a brick wall this year, and now we’re just working to find those players that are comfortable playing with each other up top.”

Roberts said she is happy to see the players, through all the shifts and changes, continuing to put in the effort for the team.

“I’ve got to give credit where credit is due: the girls are putting in the work. They’re constantly out there working hard, looking to improve, trying to get better. That’s what you want to see as a coach.”

Russellville will host West Morgan in its next match on Tuesday, March 12.