DAILY GLOBE
FAIRMONT - Jesus Ordaz scored two goals and Victor Meza scored another as the Worthington Trojans boys soccer team defeated Fairmont 3-1 Monday.
For much of the game, said WHS head coach Smitty Ektnitphong, the Trojans’ performance was spotty. But it improved in the second half.
Meza scored the game’s first goal in the first half, unassisted. The Trojans took a 1-0 lead into the second half, but Fairmont scored the next goal to tie the score at 1-1.
Then at the 37-minute mark of the second half, with just three minutes left in the match, Ordaz scored his first goal. He was assisted by Jose Behena, who passed the ball between two defenders while Ordaz - who was behind a defender - hustled to get in front of his opponent to deflect it into the net.
One minute later, the Trojans solidified their lead. It was Ordaz again, challenging a defender one-on-one and beating him to the goal. The WHS junior forward began shoulder-to-shoulver with his Fairmont opponent and outran him to the ball. His shot found its mark on the lower left corner of the goal.
Worthington outshot Fairmont 13-3 in the match.
Ektnitphong said he challenged his players at the half to stop their kicking and running and, instead, to connect their passes betterd and get to the goal. The performance was better over the last 18 minutes of the game, he said.
Worthington 1 2 - 3
Fairmont 0 1 - 1
Girls
Fairmont 5, WHS 0
Getting shut out is never fun, and it’s not often that coaches praise their players after a 5-0 loss. But then, the Trojan girls walked into their soccer match with Fairmont Monday facing a unique situation.
“We basically had one sub today,” said head coach Emily Ahlquist. “Our girls started out great. Our defense was holding their line. They held ’em off the whole first half, and then we just got tired.”
Sure enough, the teams battled to a 0-0 first half draw. Fairmont outscored the visitors 5-0 in the second half.
Worthington stayed even with the Cardinals for as long as they did, in large part, due to the performance of goalkeeper Ahmitara Alwal. Fairmont outshot Worthington 24-2 in the first half and 16-0 in the second.
Sierra Schultz scored the last three goals for Fairmont.
“Overall, I was very, very proud of how they played,” said Ahlquist. “For really having only one sub to go in, they really held ’em off for a really long time.”
Worthington 0 0 - 0
Fairmont 0 5 - 5
