Soccer wins two more over Valdosta

Published 3:00 pm Wednesday, February 16, 2022

TIFTON — Tift County’s soccer squads posted a double victory over Valdosta Tuesday night, with one Lady Devil having the game of her career.

Gigi Elizalde scored a hat trick in the 7-1 win over Valdosta, the first of her career. The Blue Devils led all the way in their 2-1 victory, improving their season mark to 5-0-1.

Head coach Sherri Constable said a hat trick had been one of Elizalde’s goals for 2022.

Beyond that number, Elizalde assisted on two others. Yareli Espinoza almost joined her in the hat trick club, scoring two goals. Kim Sanchez and Abby Goddard provided the goals, with Sanchez also accumulating two assists.

Diana Reducindo made five saves.

Constable switched up the lineup against Valdosta. “And it showed,” she said. Espinoza, Elizalde, Sanchez and Laura Kate Wright were on the front line. Espinoza is left-footed. “We balanced it. We didn’t just play the right wing [Tuesday], we played both wings.”

Reducindo is getting stronger in goal with each game, she said.

DEVILS 2, VALDOSTA 1

Anthony Palomares continued his hot streak, scoring a first half goal on a cross by Gabe Rodriguez.

“Gabe took it down the wing, cut in and swatted it back and he just tapped right in,” said head coach Bobby Earls.

The 1-0 lead had to hold up for an extended time, until Manny Marin hit the top right shelf on a shot way beyond the box with 23:45 remaining.

Tift almost had its shutout, but Valdosta took advantage of the Devils’ aggression on defense, scoring with 3:48 left. Fortunately, the Blue Devils were able to play keep away for most of the remaining time, though Mike Taylor had to make a save.

“We tried to make it hard on ourselves,” said Earls.

Valdosta had several chances for second half goals, but Tift thwarted all but the one.

Thirty seconds into the second half, the Wildcats had a penalty kick that hit off the crossbar. Eight minutes later, the defensive wall blocked a low free kick to escape more danger. That stand almost led to a goal. Palomares flipped the field when he cleared the ball and Rodriguez was a bit high on a shot attempt.

Up 2-0, Jayden Arzola halted another free kick attempt by heading it in front of the net.

Rodriguez had a beautiful cross that could not quite find a target with 9 minutes remaining and Jonathan Salazar and RaJae Mickins had shots barely miss their mark.

“This group is starting to mature a bit,” Earls said. “I’m pretty pleased with them. They’re making progress.”

Tift heads to Bainbridge Friday night. The Bearcats have looked sharp early on, with a scrimmage and regular season victory over Lowndes. Next Tuesday finds them at Peach County a rare visit to Fort Valley.