A trio of phenomenal finishes lifted Wilson to a 3-0 victory at Lakewood on Tuesday evening in the Moore League opener.
Wilson (2-0, 1-0) came out in a full press and opened the scoring in the eight minute when Sam Thompson and Kate Rael connected to play on Kristin Berry. The junior captain beat Lakewood goalkeeper Tattiana Bullock on the far side with her first touch.
Thompson scored with a rocket from the top of the 18-yard box minutes later for a 2-0 lead after 14 minutes of play.
“We knew we wanted to press and that Lakewood builds out of the back,” Wilson coach Dalton Kaufman said. “We knew that we were going to be direct and unstylish today, and we knew it would work.”
Lakewood (0-3, 0-1) nearly scored on a counter attack early in the second half when Daisy Garcia and Lauren Aguilar both put consecutive shots on goal. They were the only shots on goal that Wilson sophomore goalkeeper Daniella Uchio needed to stop to collect the shutout. Bullock finished with seven saves.
“They came after it and we didn’t match their intensity and heart,” Lakewood coach Luis Turcios said. “I was proud how we came out in the second half and didn’t quit, but this is how every team is going to play us. They’re going to play long ball and try to be very direct. If we can match that intensity and heart we’ll be fine.”
Wilson senior Hunter Richmond capped the scoring in the 79th minute with a beautiful bending free kick goal from the top of the box.
The Bruins called off the press and played out most the second half with long balls over the top while resting starters for the matchup at home against Millikan on Thursday.
“We won’t be playing this style on our own turf,” Kaufman said. “This team can play, and we’re better when we play.”
“We all play club so we’re used to that style,” Thompson said. “It’s really easy to switch to direct because our front line is pretty fast. In practice, we work a lot on our shape, so passing it around is not a problem for us.”
After winning its 12th league title in the last 16 years last season, Wilson graduated 16 seniors and nine starters. Kaufman will be relying a lot on his underclassman like Thompson, who said she and her teammates feel like they can step up and be the next generation of Wilson girls’ soccer.
“We all work really hard together and look up to the upperclassman,” Thompson said. “We’re just really excited to prove ourselves.”
Lakewood visits Poly on Thursday.
Poly 15, Compton 0
The Jackrabbits had three different players score hat tricks in this league victory on the road.
Cabrillo 0, Jordan 0
The Jaguars and Panthers shared the points at Jordan, but both coaches said they were happy with their teams performance in the league opener. Cabrillo goalkeeper Sandra Zepeda and Jordan goalkeeper Tatiana Perez collected the clean sheets.
