El Dorado upended Hot Springs Lakeside 3-0 Tuesday in a battle atop the 5A South girls’ soccer standings at the soccer complex. The Lady Wildcats improved to 7-1 overall and 5-0 in league play. The Lady Rams slipped to 7-1, 6-1.
Lakeside entered the game averaging 9.4 goals per outing.
“Lakeside’s our biggest rival and there was a little stress. But after they settled down, they handled them pretty good. They settled in,” said El Dorado coach Neville Matthews. “I’m super impressed with my defense and the team as a whole. They’re jelling pretty good. They’re starting to trust each other. The confidence is there.”
London Ingram, Julia Jackson and Caroline Meadows all scored goals for the Lady Wildcats, who led 2-0 at the intermission.
El Dorado got off 11 shots in the first half and seven in the second. The Lady Rams managed eight shot attempts in the first half and three in the second.
El Dorado goalkeeper Catelyn Connor was credited with four saves.
“She had, like, four that she had to make some good saves. She had one she had to actually dig it out,” said Matthews. “It was dipping and she had to get it.”
The coach was leery about playing an important game immediately off Spring Break. His concerns weren’t necessary.
“I think they needed the rest actually,” said Matthews. “They looked pretty good. The other team, I’m sure they were off, too. I think (El Dorado) played pretty good overall. I think the rest actually helped.”
El Dorado will travel to Lakeside for the rematch on Thursday, beginning at 5 p.m. Matthews isn’t fond of the new format of playing the same team twice in one week.
“I don’t. I don’t. I like to spread it out. Some people like it to get it over with,” he said. “If the game gets heated and you play the team two weeks away, whatever happened in that game, whatever animosity or whatever went down, the kids usually forget about it. But in two days if you have some bad blood, you open up the door for retaliation. That’s my opinion because it’s fresh in their mind. I’d rather spread it out.”
The Lady Wildcats would go a long way towards sealing the league title with a win on Thursday. Lakeside would need to win by more than three goals to take the lead.