Lady Hawks benefit from red cards in win

THINGS TO WORK ON

I thought the girls played good as a team but we have things to work on. Not everyone is comfortable with the ball at their feet yet. That's something we are going to need to work in practice on if we want to be able  win games against the tougher teams we play.”

Antonia Estrada, Central Lee Head Coach

WEST BRANCH – Two red cards and three second half goals were just what the Lady Hawks needed to get their first win of the year.
A physical contest ended with West Branch playing with only nine players after two red cards were assessed against the Bears for overly physical play including a trip outside the box and a keeper coming out and taking down Ellie Lake in the second half.
Lake would get the first score of the game with 22:05 left in the first half. West Branch would tie things up six minutes later. At the 12:34 mark, the Bears would get a red card for a trip but the Hawks wouldn’t cover the free kick and the half would end tied at 1 all.
Central Lee scored first in the second half as well taking a 2-1 lead on a shot from Aubrey Boyd who had 12 shots in the game, five on goal.
At the 23:08 mark, the Bears would tie up the match from a deep shot that went over Central Lee goalie Adi Robinson’s hands. With just under 14 minutes left in the match, West Branch would get another red card with the goalie being ejected for coming out of the box and colliding with Lake. Again, the Hawks missed an opportunity to score on a free kick.
Now playing with just nine players, the Hawks pushed the pace and were able to get the ball down to Lake on a through ball from Shanna Buford. Lake would find the net for what proved to be the winning goal, putting the Hawks up 3-2.
Boyd would score again with 1:36 left against West Branch’s backup goalie to set the final score.
"I thought the girls played good as a team but we have things to work on.  Not everyone is comfortable with the ball at their feet yet," said head coach Antonio Estrada.
"That's something we are going to need to work in practice on if we want to be able  win games against the tougher teams we play.
Lake had nine shots, seven on goal, and scored twice in the win. Buford had the sole assist and Robinson had seven saves on the evening.
The Hawks are now 1-2 on the season overall and still have yet to play a SEI Superconference match.
They travel to Wapello on Monday night for the first conference game. They host Mediapolis on Thursday and then Keokuk on Friday night.