Taylor Ramirez picked up a hat trick as she led Lakeside to a 6-0 victory over the visiting Hope Lady Bobcats Monday night at Austin Field.
The Lady Rams (9-6, 6-2 5A/6A-6) scored three goals in quick succession, taking the game from scoreless to a 3-0 lead over Hope (2-11, 2-8) in less than two minutes.
Ramirez put the Lady Rams on the board less than five minutes into the game, kicking one low and left from about 20 yards out to put Lakeside up, 1-0, with 35:51 remaining in the first half.
"I think Ramirez has played an integral part on all of the players being able to make shots and goals now," said Lakeside head coach Karrie Irwin. "She's helping make opportunities. Not only is she wanting to make the goals, she's being there to make the assists. That helps her team."
After a blocked shot, Tarin Delong made it 2-0 with 34:45 remaining as she got one up and to the right of Hope's keeper from about 12 yards out.
Ramirez scored her second goal 50 seconds later as she got within mere feet of the goal, knocking the ball into the left side of the net to make it 3-0 with 33:55 left in the half.
"We just came out kind of flat," said Hope head coach Zac Hoglund. "By the time we picked it up a little bit, it was 3-0, and we were just in a hole. The girls were flat, and it showed. We just couldn't recover after coming out flat like that."
With a 3-0 lead for much of the half, Irwin switched the Lady Rams to a seven-man offense in an attempt to force the game into the mercy rule, but Lakeside picked up just one more in the first half with Ramirez knocking in a cross from Zoe Helton. Melissa Perrigo had a corner kick, dropping the ball around 10 yards from the goal, and Helton kicked the ball, hitting Ramirez in the chest and bouncing into the top left corner for the 4-0 lead with 8:23 to go in the half.
Irwin kept the seven-man offense early in the second half, accounting for Ashley Gayle's goal less than three minutes into the second half. With two unsuccessful shots early, Gayle knocked the ball into the left side of the net with 2:08 off the clock to make it 5-0.
The Lady Rams shifted back to a more traditional scheme for the remainder of the half, and at the 18:02 mark, Emmi Kejser shot from about 20 yards away into the top left corner to make it 6-0 and cutting the remainder of the time in half as the Lady Rams held on for the win.
Abby Mahoney had several stops on defense with one blocked shot.
"I like her speed in the back," Irwin said. "She's second-guessing herself in the back, especially with Kiley (Hermosillo) not back there to lead her. I think we've been taking a lot of opportunities to sub players in when we're taking advantage of those times and giving them more confidence to play, that's something that I think I've been weak at before, finding those good fits for those subs.
"I know losing a player helps you grow as a team because we're seeing where we all can step up. That's been the best thing for us that we've been able to see where we need to put other players. Given more opportunities they get more comfortable on the field. It's been great seeing some movement and support on the field. That gives me the opportunity to put Abby up more, too."
Lakeside had 32 shots in the match with 17 on target for 53 percent efficiency. Keeper Jessica Bishop picked up another clean slate with eight saves and six blocks on the night.
Hope managed just nine of their 20 shots on target, 45 percent, while keeper Hanna McCorkle finished with 10 saves and one block with six goals allowed.
Lakeside traveled to El Dorado (10-2, 3-2) Tuesday, and they will travel to Benton (10-3, 7-0 5A/6A-5) Thursday for a non-conference match before their final two matches next week. Hope travels to El Dorado Friday before wrapping up its season at Texarkana (5-5, 4-3) Tuesday.
Sports on 04/18/2018