Tom Halliburton
The Port Arthur News
PORT NECHES —
Freshman Kirsten Diaz knocked home a left-footed goal into the corner of the net to lift Nederland over Port Neches-Groves 1-0 in overtime of their girls soccer Madness matchup at The Reservation.
A well-placed assist from junior teammate Taylor Martin during the first of two 10-minute overtime periods enabled Diaz to take the game-winning shot.
Getting any shots past PN-G keeper Lauren Lovejoy was difficult for coach Keith Barrow’s Lady Bulldogs but one good one was all they needed.
“You really have to hit a great shot to get one past Lovejoy,” Barrow complimented the opposing keeper.
“We had been having some good looks at the goal before then. Taylor’s assist was from about 30 yards out and Kirsten was making a diagonal run to the top of the box (18-yard penalty box).
“We wanted to control the midfield and play in the middle a lot. We knew it was going to be a good game but we didn’t want to have to get into a shootout with them.”
The two head coaches agreed with the final count on shots on goal. Nederland led in that category, 12-8.
“Our offense has to get better,” an upbeat Lady Indians coach Aimee Bates said afterwards. “We were not getting behind their defense enough.
“Lovejoy made a couple of awesome saves in overtime.”
Thanks to the added benefit of field turf, Barrow refused to believe the wet conditions dramatically impacted on the outcome.
The teams kicked off at 6:30 in Indian Stadium and played in light rain much of the 80 regulation minutes.
Nederland (9-5-2 and 5-0) entertains Vidor on Tuesday. Vidor also survived an overtime win on Friday against Little Cypress-Mauriceville.
PN-G (10-5-2 and 4-1) visits Bridge City on Tuesday night at 5:30 p.m.
