Rosewood holds off Spring Creek

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on April 15, 2008 3:26 PM

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SEVEN SPRINGS -- Rosewood hoped its rigorous and challenging non-conference schedule would pay dividends once conference play began.

The Eagles took the first step Monday evening. Gabby Cornman scored the game's lone goal in a 1-0 victory over county rival Spring Creek.

It was the Class 1-A Carolina Conference opener for both teams.

"We had a pretty good non-conference schedule with games against North Lenoir and Wayne Country Day," said Rosewood head coach Eddie Maldonado. "Those are good, quality teams. I hope this will get us ready for North Johnston and Princeton."

Rosewood (8-4-1, 1-0 CC) needed just 11 minutes to get on the board. Cornman slipped through the Gators' defense and beat keeper Jomario Soria. Ten minutes later, Soria turned away a penalty kick.

The Eagles attempted 12 shots on goal and six corner kicks in the opening half. They added 10 second-half shots and three corner kicks, including several that hit the crossbar.

"We've gone through (scoring) spurts," said Maldonado. "At the beginning of the year we were putting goals away and we kind of mellowed off a little bit. Now we're getting chances we just have to put them away."

Soria kept the Gators (0-4-0) within striking distance with a 12-save effort.

"She really challenged them and came out when she needed to come out," said first-year Spring Creek head coach Linda Salter. "She did a real good job of coming out and challenging them, and cutting off the angles on thebreakaways they had."

The Gators generated some sustained stints of possession late in the match, but failed to record a shot on goal.

"Rosewood is very disciplined as far as staying spread out," said Salter. "I'm very pleased with the improvement we showed. We're just still trying to get things to click and get it going."

The teams continue league play Wednesday. Rosewood entertains North Johnston, while Spring Creek is the guest of Princeton.