Rosewood tops Southern Wayne 3-0

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on April 8, 2008 3:13 PM

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ROSEWOOD -- A new scoring tandem, born from injuries which forced a lineup shift, emerged in Rosewood's 3-0 victory over cross-county rival Southern Wayne on Monday evening.

Kaitlyn Conger started the season on defense, but moved to forward two games ago. She, along with Gabby Cornman, combined for all three goals on the Branch Pope Field pitch.

"We had some injuries, especially at sweeper, so I had to play Kaitlyn at a defensive position for a while," Rosewood coach Eddie Maldonado said. "She hasn't played forward much, but I am very pleased with the way her and Gabby are working together."

The energy- and intense-filled contest featured little offense in the first 30 minutes. Rosewood (7-3-1 overall) controlled possession, but could never generate a sustained attack on goal.

With less than eight minutes left in the opening half, Cornman broke free on the right side of the field. She pushed the ball deep into the Saints' defense and crossed a pass to Conger, who knocked the ball into the net.

Southern Wayne keeper Nichole Casto faced two more shots in the closing seconds, but prevented the Eagles from padding their one-goal advantage. The Eagles outshot the Saints 6-0 during the first 40 minutes.

"We wanted to work on pressuring their players, playing the ball to each other's feet, and we wanted to have our midfielders play the ball through the holes to the forwards," Maldonado said. "We knew we needed to keep pressure on them so they couldn't look up and find open players."

Nearly midway through the second half, Conger fired a shot on goal, but Casto scooped it up. Three minutes later, Conger got another scoring chance off Cornman's pass and tucked the ball into the net for the 2-0 lead.

Conger returned the favor in the final 20 minutes. She kept possession in the midfield, forced a defender to commit early and passed off to Cornman for the game's final goal.

Despite the loss, Saints' coach Mario Aguilar was pleased with his team's effort.

"We are improving, with each practice and with each game," said Aguilar, whose team dropped to 3-5 overall. "This team is coming along, and they really played hard tonight."

Southern Wayne faces Spring Creek on Friday, while Rosewood visits Wayne Country Day on Wednesday afternoon.