Quick goals lead Hawks to win
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune Liberty midfielder Holly Strong controls the ball for the Hawks. She scored two goals in a 7-1 victory over Hanford West on Wednesday.
The Liberty Hawks girls soccer team made quick work of the Hanford West Huskies with five goals in the first half in a 7-1 victory at Liberty.
“I felt we were going to have a good game tonight,” head coach Erick Walker said. “The girls seemed on during warm ups. The last couple of games, we would score, but keep the team in. We talked about putting the game away early. The early goals helped set the tone in the game.”
The Hawks scored three goals in a seven minute span — two from Alondra Alvarez and another from Holly Strong — to effectively put away the Huskies.
“We’ve played this team the last couple of years,” Walker said. “They put more pressure than we were used to. I don’t think our defense was used to their speed. We made some modifications at halftime and they played better in the second half.”
Two minutes into the match, Strong got the ball in the middle and fed it to Alvarez on the left side. She shot high into the upper right corner for the first goal of the match.
Five minutes later, Brooke Wristen got the ball on the right and sent it across the face of the goal. Alvarez came in from the left side and touched the ball into the back of the net for a 2-0 lead.
The Hawks got on the scoreboard two minutes later. Strong gathered the ball just outside the goalkeeper’s box and shot high on goal in the middle. The ball went through the keeper’s hands and into the back of the net for a 3-0 lead.
The Hawks took a little more time to get on the scoreboard. In the 20th minute, Wristen sent a ball to Strong on the left side. Strong settled the ball and found the right corner of the net for a 4-0 lead.
Liberty added another goal 12 minutes later. Wristen got the possession off a pass from Sara Garibay from about 18 yards out. Wristen sent the ball high over the keeper for a 5-0 halftime lead. It took a little while in the second half for the Hawks to find the scoreboard.
Meanwhile, Hanford West kept possession in front of Sarah Shevenell in goal for the Hawks. The Huskies got the ball past Shevenell to break the shutout.
In the 25th minute of the second half, Wristen, on the left side, sent a crossing pass to the right. Sadie Vaquez came in and touched the ball over the goalkeeper’s head for the goal and a 6-1 lead.
About a minute later, Vasquez got another shot on goal. However, her shot was deflected into the air, but Wristen watched the ball come down and touched the ball on goal. Wristen’s shot went over the keeper and into the back of the net for the seventh goal of the match.
