Lady ‘Cats continue hot streak with 5-0 victory

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MILL HALL - There's no denying the Central Mountain girls' soccer team's hot streak.

Tallies have come from all angles off sharp, solid passing in front of and to the side of the nylon. Each scorching goal is always etched in the other teams' minds.

On Monday, it was Huntingdon that got burned.

Jackie Rodabaugh tied the school record for goals in a season and Sam Lofton broke the mark for assists in a 5-0 win on the Lady Wildcats' Senior Night.

Rodabaugh netted four tallies in the victory, reaching the 21-goal mark this season to tie Meghan Gill's record, which was set in 2006. Lofton's two assists pushed her to the top of the the list with 13 on the year, which breaks the old record of 11.

"For her to tie that record at this point in the season just shows the determination and the guts that she has," CM head coach Ryan Veltri said.

"She is a fiesty little player who just finds herself in front of the goal, and she is a finisher. That's obvious as a junior because she's putting a lot of balls in the back of the net.

"We rely on her for a lot of things. She is one of those all-around kids you like to see accomplish those things."

But more than the records set was the play of the Lady Wildcats, who fared much better this time around against Huntingdon.

The teams' first meeting resulted in a 1-0 win for CM, but the Lady 'Cats took over 40 shots in the game.

Monday, the number of shots was down and the tallies were up, which made for a much more comfortable night on the field for CM (12-0). The Lady Wildcats outshot Huntingdon, 31-3.

"We did decent. The score was 5-0, so we got some goals," said senior Sara Hawksworth, who had an assist in the win.

"We are sailing a few over, but that happens. We did much better than last time. I wanted to get Bubb (Erin White) or Katie a goal because it was their Senior Night, too. I was just trying to work hard and help them out. Getting the ball on goal and making the shots was the big thing. Sam Lofton did a great job with assists, and Jackie finished her shots. It was good."

CM took an early, 1-0 lead eight minutes into the first stanza when Rodabaugh broke free on a feed from Lofton. The junior scampered straight toward Lady Bearcat keeper Karlee Jackson after running past a Huntingdon defender and booted the ball in on the left side.

With 11 minutes left in the first, Rodabaugh again hit paydirt, this time off a kick from Lofton that sailed from the sidelines directly to the her in front of the goal. She stuck her leg up in the air and kicked the ball in.

"Compared to the first time we played where we had a bucket load of shots and only one tally, (tonight) was a great opportunity for us to show how far we've come already this season," Veltri said. "We're finishing chances now and putting ourselves in good positions.

"The girls are putting the ball in the back of the net. I don't know if we struggled at that at the beginning of the season, but lately, we've been doing well."

The Lady Wildcats tacked on to their lead with 7:23 remaining in the first when Haylea Myers netted the second goal of her young career. The freshman took advantage of a melee in front of Huntingdon's net on a CM corner kick.

She found herself in the right spot after White got a foot on the ball to direct it toward the goal.

"I thought we played really well," said White, who has three goals and two assists this season.

"We passed the ball around well and it was good to see that we played them better at home. We usually play better when we're at home, anyway.

"That night (earlier in the year against Huntingdon), we had a lot of practice. (Tonight), we just really focused on getting the shots on goal and getting them past the keeper. We made sure they were on the net.

"We thought we did pretty well. We can always do better. We stayed tight as a team and are all really close. We always work well together."

Rodabaugh netted two more goals in the second half - the first coming from Lofton and the second from Hawksworth to cap the scoring.

Huntingdon (4-6-2) had its best chance to score with 10:25 remaining in the first half when the Lady Bearcats got a breakaway down the field.

Rachael Woods found herself heading straight toward CM keeper Amanda Barnes with two defenders trailing behind.

Barnes met Woods as she was about to punt the ball, but the sphere came out from underneath her and spun right in front of the goal. The Lady Wildcats were able to clear it away from the net to secure the shutout.

"(Huntingdon) brings a physical style and they had some fiesty players in the middle," Veltri said.

"They made it hard for us, but girls like Sam Lofton and Sara Hawksworth and Chelsey Williams - when they are on, they are playing well. They get going and it's a pretty good game to watch.

"Sometimes, it frustrates the other team. But Huntingdon didn't stop. They came at us for 40 minutes each half, and that's a good thing for us."

Mountain League

CENTRAL MOUNTAIN 5, HUNTINGDON 0

First Half

CM - Jackie Rodabaugh (Sam Lofton), 32:07

CM - Rodabaugh (Lofton), 11:25

CM - Haylea Myers (Erin "Bubb" White), 7:23

Second Half

CM - Rodabaugh (Lofton), 47:28

CM - Rodabaugh (Sara Hawksworth), 14:17

Shots: 31-3. Corner Kicks: CM 9-0. Saves: H 8 (Karlee Jackson). CM 3 (Amanda Barnes). Records: H 4-6-2; CM 12-0, 10-0 Mountain League. JV score: 0-0 tie.