By Joshua McKinney
Rivalry games are always intense and Tuesday’s rubber match between the Hays Lady Rebels and Lehman Lady Lobos was no exception.
A pair of goals scored in the second half gave Hays a 3-1 victory over Lehman at Shelton Stadium.
Hays coach Brent Holcomb wasn’t satisfied with his side’s performance but thought the Rebels showed better possessive traits in the second half.
“There were lots of things that we’ve been working on that we didn’t execute but it started to show up in the second half,” Holcomb said. “The first half was very unsettled and kind of clumsy. We found our feet in the second half.”
The quality of play in the second half strongly contrasted for Hays and Lehman. Both teams played more aggressively and had multiple attempts on goal.
The Rebels played the aggressor for the majority of the game. Hays played a high-pressure attacking style with their top three attackers, which Lehman’s back four tried to exploit by playing an offside trap.
The trap worked as officials called Hays offside six times in the match. It left plenty of space at the back that the Rebels attacked.
Lehman head coach Nauri Garcia credited Hays with a great performance against his side, which gave a valiant effort in the loss.
“They were on,” Garcia said. “They finished their opportunities and we didn’t. We made some adjustments (in the second half) and we got outcoached.”
Hays took the lead three minutes into the match. The Lady Rebels exploited the left side, catching the Lobo backline in an unbalanced situation.
A clever pass in the box from Alexis Cowher to Kayla Humphries led to the opening goal.
Lehman striker Pamela Lasprilla countered by sliding a shot past the outstretched arms of Hays’ goalkeeper and off the left post.
The tying goal struck a nerve in the Rebels, which took the lead again in the 58th minute.
Humphries created space down the left side of the field and fired a ball at the Lehman goalkeeper, who deflected the shot. Cowher followed up and slotted it in for the 2-1 lead.
Humphries attributed the lack of marking by the right back to her ability to find open space.
“The defender on my side wasn’t staying on me directly,” Humphries said. “It was more toward the middle. It was leaving space on the right side. The right back was stepping way too inside, so she wasn’t directly on me.”
A header in the box by Mercedes Gilmore at the 72nd minute allowed Hays to pull away for good.
