Kennedale girls romp to Class 4A soccer final with 6-0 win
Kennedale converted three goals in the first nine minutes and never let up, routing Kilgore 6-0 in a UIL Class 4A girls soccer state semifinal Wednesday at the Georgetown ISD Athletic Complex.
The victory leaves Kennedale (26-2) one win away from successfully defending its 4A title. The 4A division was added just a year ago. Kennedale meets Jasper (23-3-1) at 2:30 p.m. Thursday.
Against Kilgore, the Wildcats had 24 shots, with 12 on goal. Three Kennedale shots hit the crossbar and two others hit posts. The Bulldogs (22-6-2) never had a shot on goal.
We had a game plan and it worked really well for us.
Kennedale girls soccer coach Michael Strange
Kennedale coach Michael Strange said he was able to get video of Kilgore.
“I think it helps to see what their players look like and see their tendencies,” he said. “You see what they’re good at and what they’re not good at, and try to attack their weaknesses.
“We had a game plan and it worked really well for us.”
Kennedale senior midfielder Allie Thornton opened the scoring in the fourth minute, weaving through four defenders for a 15-yard shot past Bulldogs goalkeeper Katelynn Carroll, who did collect six saves for the match.
Three minutes later, Thornton passed to teammate Abby Olmos and she made it 2-0 on a shot from 11 yards.
Freshman midfielder Eryka McIntrye got the first of her two goals in the ninth minute when she fired into a wide-open left half of the net after taking a crossing pass from Olmos.
Sophomore midfielder Bailey Crowley made it 4-0 in the 30th minute when her shot from distance got through the goalkeeper’s grasp.
McIntrye closed out the first-half scoring when she one-touched a pass from Thornton and made the shot from 22 yards out.
Junior midfielder Alondra Olmos added the lone second-half goal, in the 49th minute. Her right-footed shot from 25 yards hit the crossbar, but she collected the rebound and kicked it in left-footed from 17 yards.
Kilgore threatened early in the second half with two breakaways by forward Darla Rossum, but Kennedale keeper Sara Calzada raced out to scoop the ball and end the attacks.
Jasper 1, Salado 0 (OT): In the other semifinal, Bulldogs junior midfielder Kaitlin Campos scored in the 86th minute on a hard, top-spinning shot from 20 yards that Salado goalkeeper Sam Isbell was unable to control. Jasper midfielder Natalia Zavala assisted with a low shot to Campos from the right. Salado had two corner kicks in the final four minutes, but both were cleared by the Jasper defense.
This story was originally published April 13, 2016 at 5:31 PM with the headline "Kennedale girls romp to Class 4A soccer final with 6-0 win."