Led by Chris Olvera’s six goals, the Rockdale Tigers defeated the Connally Cadets 14-0 to make their record 2-2 this season.
“The kids were literally outstanding,” said Gilberto Rodriguez, Rockdale High School head soccer coach. “I mean, I honestly haven’t seen them play that well in a long time.
“This is what I’ve been working towards, and where I want them to be. The passing, the shooting – everything was on point today.”
In the first forty-minute half, the Tigers got off to a fast start when attacker Brandon Hernandez put the blue-and-gold ahead 1-0 three minutes into the game. Four minutes later, Olvera scored his first goal from the right side of the pitch to put Rockdale up 2-0. The Tigers went up 3-0 a little past the 25-minute mark when Luis Iruegas got past both middle defenders to score his first goal of the contest.
A little over a minute later, the Tigers were awarded a penalty kick from 12 yards away after a Conally defender made illegal contact with Iruegas that prevented him from scoring. Rockdale chose Olvera to take the free kick, and led to him putting the Tigers up 4-0.
Hernandez scored his second goal two minutes later, and Olvera scored his third making the score 6-0 with more than 20 minutes left in the opening half. The Tigers scored once more to go into the break up 7-0.
Rockdale’s success near the goal continued with three more goals scored in the first 10 minutes, putting the Tigers up 10-0. RHS scored four more times, including three times in the final 10 minutes of play, defeating the Cadets 14-0.
In addition to Olvera’s six goals, Hernandez and German Mata had three, and Iruegas had two. Goalie Ty Mayberry had four saves for the Tigers.
“Y’all played well from the beginning to the end,” Rodriguez told his team following the victory. “I’m proud of you guys.”
Last Wednesday, Rock-dale played their first home game at Tiger Stadium with a 2-1 win over Caldwell.
“It was a close game,” Rodriguez said. “But the weather had a lot to do with that, and it was really hard to control the ball.”
The Tigers also played on Friday, Dec. 28 at a scrimmage showcase in Waco against Robinson who defeated them 1-0. They also lost to Jarrell 2-1.
“So far, we’ve played some strong schools and we’ve held our ground,” Rodriguez said. “At the showcase, we lost to Robinson, and they’re a pretty good team.
“We lost by one to Jarrell as well, which was an improvement because (Jarrell) blew us out last year. They beat us 7-1, and 5-1. I think we’re doing outstanding.”
The Tigers played Caldwell again on Tuesday in Rockdale after press time, and play in the Cameron Tournament Thursday through Saturday.
Lady Tigers – Prior to the boy’s game, the Lady Tigers lost to Connally 4-0 in their second game at Tiger Stadium.
“They did a lot better than the last three games they played,” Rodriguez said. “Even though we lost by four goals, we only gave up one goal in the first half.
“The funny thing is that they actually played better in the second half because we moved the ball more. The ball was near our goal for most of the first half. In the second half, we managed to open up, and bring the ball up near our goal more. We did a lot better because of that, although (Connally) was able to score three goals just because there was more space to get good passes near the goal.”
The Lady Tigers were missing some offensive players, according to Rodriguez. They fielded only two players who were used to playing offense.
“Hopefully, we’ll look better when we get them back,” he said.
The Lady Tigers were led by goalie Kaylee Criswell with 20 saves, including a saved penalty kick.
Rockdale also lost to Caldwell 4-0 on Wednesday, and played Caldwell again on Tuesday at Tiger Stadium after press time. On Friday, Dec. 28, RHS lost 8-0 to Robinson and 4-1 to La Vega in Waco. The Lady Tigers play next at the Cameron Tournament, from Thursday through Saturday.
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