Five games into Sam Edgerton’s tenure as coach of the Montezuma-Cortez High School girls soccer team, it has become evident that players will continue to work hard and improve.
The most recent example of their progress was evident last weekend when the Lady Panthers played hard throughout a 5-0 loss to Alamosa on March 30 before scoring a resounding 8-1 victory over Center on March 31.
Among the highlights of the Center game were four goals and one assist by sophomore McKenzy Howerton and three goals and one assist by sophomore Aaliya Rendon. Junior Lyndi Belt added a goal for the Lady Panthers, and junior Johanna Ruiz added an assist.
M-CHS’ win followed a difficult contest against Alamosa on March 30 during which Alamosa scored three first-half goals on its way to a decisive 5-0 victory.
Proving to be the difference in the one-sided contest was the speed of Alamosa’s forwards, who broke free of Lady Panthers’ defenders on several occasions and scored breakaway goals.
Asked about their team’s struggles defensively, M-CHS teammates Hailey White and Ashley Skidmore emphasized that their team’s communication can improve, but agreed that in many facets of the game, their team played well.
“We need to work on our communication and get better touches, but overall, we played a pretty good game, especially in the second half,” White said.
“We need to have more people supporting each other in case we get beat, but overall, I think we did pretty good,” Skidmore echoed. “We’re all good friends and that’s so important, because if you’re not friends with each other, you’re not going to communicate with one another.”
Serving as a bright spot for M-CHS throughout the weekend was the play of goalkeeper Elena Cosner, whose ability to keep shots out of the net was evident throughout her team’s games against Alamosa and Center.
Now 2-3-0 on the season, the M-CHS girls soccer team will look to pick up its first league win of the season when it travels to face Pagosa Springs on April 3. The game is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.