It was a tale of two halves Monday night as the Cardinals girls soccer team took down Heritage Christian 4-3, thanks to a second-half offensive explosion.
After going down by two goals in the first half, the Cardinals needed a spark to turn the momentum in their favor. They found it when junior Jaden Brooks broke through the Heritage Christian back line and tucked the ball past the goalkeeper to score the Cardinals’ first goal of the game and season.
From there, the floodgates opened. Senior Jayla Erpelding added a trio of goals, including the go-ahead score with seven minutes remaining, to secure the Cardinals’ first win of the year.
“Soccer’s a long game so you can make adjustments,” Erpelding said. “And I believe we totally made the adjustments needed to get the win today.”
The wind played a factor Monday night. The Cardinals opened the game playing into the wind, with it whipping their passes and long balls back toward their own goal. This allowed Heritage Christian to keep pressure on the Cardinals, scoring two goals and forcing a handful of Cardinals saves.
“The wind definitely made a difference,” Erpelding said. “And we have talked about how we need to look for our shot and not wait for that perfect moment, and Jaden got that first one. And we’re pretty good, I think, when we get that one, we can just get rolling.”
Many of those chances started in the defensive end. The game-winning goal by Erpelding was thanks to a long assist by defender Kyleigh Musick.
“Communication was key,” Brooks said. “And then going up and winning the balls out of the air, the 50/50s, and heading those out, that was probably, like, one of the most important things to get this one I think.”
Head coach Darren Erpelding said the team’s mentality wasn’t where it needed to be to start the match. But the team fought back to regain control and secure the comeback.
“I thought we rebounded really well, very proud of the girls and their effort and their fight,” he said. “They did everything we asked in the second half.”
His halftime talk focused on getting players to move more when they didn’t have the ball, and find passes instead of dribbling into pressure.
Communication was another key for the Cardinals turning the game around in the second half.
“The wind changed everything, and our little pep time at halftime, that was the little talk that kind of changed everything around,” Brooks said.
That communication and energy was exactly what Erpelding and the coaching staff had wanted to see from the team. He said it was exciting to see players dropping back and filling in for each other.
“All that stuff is everything we’ve asked them to do,” he said. “And it’s finally kind of implemented into that second half, so it was fantastic.”
Brooks’ breakthrough goal was key to building confidence for the Cardinals, Erpelding said.
“Once we got that first one I think the girls were like, ‘OK, the ball actually will cross the line and hit the back of the net,’” Erpelding said.
The Cardinals will hope to build on that confidence as they move through the season.
“The first one is always the toughest one,” Erpelding said. “And I know it’s a cliche thing to say, but it 100% is.”
The team will head on the road for the next few contests, starting with a road trip to Piper on Thursday. They hope to recapture the energy that propelled them to the comeback win Monday.
“Once you experience the first win, like, you want that again and again,” Brooks said. “So, you strive for it every single time, and never give up.”
Reach reporter Cuyler Dunn at eudoratimes@gmail.com
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