For the Lady Tigers, it was business as usual.
Belton scored four second-half goals - three of them off corner kicks - to pull away from Temple for a 5-0 victory Tuesday night at damp Wilson-Kerzee Field.
Michelle Hagen had a pair of goals, Kallie Lahey and Jourdan Brown had one apiece, and Chelsea Jones had a goal and two assists for the Lady Tigers (12-1-3 overall, 6-0 District 12-5A), who ran their unbeaten streak against their rivals to nine games.
“(Corner kicks) are stuff that we practice, but they’re not something we practice a whole lot and say, ‘OK, we’re going to count on our corner kicks,’” said Belton coach Barry Elkins, whose squad entered the night tied with College Station A&M Consolidated for the district lead. “But it goes to show that when not every single thing is working on the attack, our kids still wanted it and they went and got it.”
The Lady Wildcats (9-6-1, 3-3) managed only one shot and were shut out against their rivals for the fourth straight time.
Temple was down just 1-0 at halftime after Lahey deflected home a Jones header only six minutes in, but the Lady Wildcats came unraveled when defending Belton’s corner kicks after intermission.
“We gave up goals on corner kicks and some of them weren’t direct. We just miscleared it,” said Temple coach Oscar Bersoza, whose team hasn’t scored against on Belton since February 2007. “And we practice that stuff over and over again. It was just mental lapses when we shouldn’t have had them.
“We opened it up and tried to play, as much as you can against them. But then once the goals start to go in, the morale starts to go down.”
Temple tried to attack more in the second half and it resulted in Shannon Fogleman’s rifle shot that Belton goalkeeper Kelsi Darr made a diving save on.
At the other end of the field, the Lady Tigers mustered a dozen shots in the second half alone.
After Temple couldn’t clear the ball deep in the box, Texas A&M signee Jones sent an arching crossing pass that Brown headed in for a 2-0 lead four minutes after halftime. The duo then switched roles as Jones came streaking in to head home Brown’s corner kick for a 3-0 cushion nine minutes later.
Hagen added the final two goals, both of which came after the Lady Wildcats couldn’t clear initial strikes off corner kicks.
Hagen outjumped Temple keeper Abby Blunt for a header with 26 minutes remaining, then was the direct recipient of an attempted clearing pass, which she drilled to cap the scoring eight minutes later.
“I challenged them at halftime, especially Michelle,” Elkins said. “I challenged her to play harder in the second half, and she goes out there and scores two goals and dominates the middle of the field, which is what we needed.”
Belton has outscored district opponents 40-2 and will try to remain atop the league standings when it travels to face A&M Consolidated on Friday.
Temple will try to learn from its mistakes before hosting Killeen Ellison on Friday.
“Giving up a goal in the run of play happens, but giving up so many off corner kicks is deflating,” Bersoza said. “We’ll just have to keep working and give it another shot against them next time."
edrennan@temple-telegram.com
