In their first ever match-up with rival Cameron, the Tigers came out on top of the high energy 1-0 victory last Friday.
“There were some times where I thought we missed opportunities to create a bigger lead,” said Gilberto Rodriguez, Rockdale High School head soccer coach. “But overall, I’m happy with beating Cameron. Our boys came to win.”
Led by the ball handling of Ryan Nguyen, the Tigers controlled possession early in the game, which was a new strategy according to Rodriguez.
“Usually, we get the ball and just try to dive into a fast break,” Rodriguez said. “But in this game, we tried to maintain possession and play more calm to get the ball down the field.
“It looked good and worked well for us. We had more control of the game,” he said.
German Mata scored from the left side of the field just beyond the goalie’s reach in the last 10 minutes of the first half.
Although Rockdale scored, the Yoe were tough competiton stopping 11 of Rockdale’s 12 shots.
“It was hard for us to get through to the goal because Cameron kept their defenders all the way back and made it hard for us to score,” Rodriguez said. “When we were at their tournament, they did the same thing against Jarrell and it was really effective.”
The Tigers were led on defense by goalie Brandon Hernandez, who had five saves.
RHS is now 6-6-1 and 2-0 in District 26-4A and faced Eastside Memorial in Austin on Tuesday after press time. The Tigers play the Taylor Ducks at home on Friday at 7 p.m.
The Ducks are also 2-0 in district with a 4-3 win over Eastside and a 12-0 win over Cameron.
“Taylor’s not just good. They’re really good,” Rodriguez said. “Last season they made it to the state tournament before losing to Progreso and actually beat East-side Memorial 1-0 in the third round of the playoffs last season.
“So we’ll definitely have to focus and not make mistakes. We need to try playing them one-on-one, but if that’s not working, we’ll try to what Cameron did against us,” he said. “I think we’re capable. Plus, we also tend to play better against good teams.”
LADY TIGERS—The Rockdale Lady Tiger soccer team fell 2-1 to Cameron, getting their second District
The Lady Yoe controlled possession for much of the first and scored to take 1-0 lead at halftime.
Rockdale bounced back in the second half, when freshman Katia Hernandez tied the game ten minutes into the second half. Cameron took the game when they scored again in the second half.
“It went well honestly,” Rodriguez said. “But we gave them a lot of chances which is why they took the game.”
Rodriguez also spoke highly of goalie Kaylee Criswell, who had 11 saves for Rockdale.
“Our morale was kind of low coming into district, especially after some bad losses,” Rodriguez said. “But we brought it back up with a close game with Gateway and then playing Cameron as close as we did.”
The Lady Tigers faced Eastside Memorial on Tuesday after press time and Taylor on Friday at 5 p.m. THS is 2-0 in district and defeated Cameron 6-0 on Tuesday, Feb. 12.
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