Blue Devils blast Lowndes in soccer

Published 1:00 pm Wednesday, March 23, 2022

TIFTON — Tift County’s last Region 1-7A matches with Lowndes resulted in a split Tuesday night, but results that both head coaches were more than happy to accept.

The Lady Devils fell, 3-0, a big improvement on an 8-1 loss they suffered two weeks ago. As for the Blue Devils, their result was not just a 10-0 victory, but an extraordinary one.

The number of goals and the winning margin were both records against Lowndes during Bobby Earls’ tenure as head coach. Nine of the tallies came during the second half, an amount Earls said was a record for him, regardless of opponent.

Tift’s lead was 1-0 at intermission and Earls admitted he was a bit concerned about how close it was. He needn’t worry long.

“We were just a bit off here and there,” he said of the first 40 minutes..

Barely three minutes into the second half, Jonathan Salazar hit a shot that more resembled a cross, going into the right side of the net. That doubled the lead to 2-0 and the fun was only beginning for the Devils.

Twenty-two seconds later, Manny Marin swiped a Vikings’ pass in front of their goal. There was no resistance from the back line as he calmly pushed the ball past the keeper.

Tift had to wait a bit longer — two minutes —  for Kevyn Lopez to increase the score to 4-0. Lowndes’ keeper deflected a shot on goal during that quiet span, but the Vikings could only briefly clear. Marin drew a crowd when he appeared to be making a run towards the box, allowing him to tap a pass to a wide open Lopez, who shot with power from outside the penalty area.

The Devils’ fourth goal in four minutes was a clean-up job. Salazar had a shot tipped by the goalie, which ricocheted right to Anthony Palomares, making for an easy rebound. The advantage was up to 5-0 with 32:07 left in the contest.

Five minutes and slight change after Palomares scored, Alex Cardoso and Marin led a 3-on-1 down the field, Cardoso doing the honors off the pass from Marin with 26:51 left.

Then, for the second time in the second half, Tift had two goals within seconds, Salazar banging in a shot off a Lowndes defender, increasing the score to 7-0.

Tift, now liberally substituting, had few shot attempts over the next nine minutes before Marin completed a hat trick with 17:17 left, permanently ending his night.

Mike Taylor saved one of the few attempts on goal by Lowndes, soon followed by Eli Harden stealing a pass from the Vikes and passing it ahead to Gabe Rodriguez, earning Rodriguez his long-awaited first goal of 2022 and 9th of the night for the team.

Two minutes after Rodriguez’s goal, Salazar ended the contest via mercy rule, dribbling around several defenders before scoring. The final goal also completed a hat trick for Salazar.

In contrast to the scoring frenzy of the second half, the first produced a single goal and an offense that was not quite clicking. Another factor was a tightly-packed defense. “[Lowndes] kept the middle clogged up,” he said.

Marin scored that first goal almost 16 minutes into the half.

Lowndes crowded the box during the half, making it difficult for the Blue Devils to get much power on their shots inside. Offsides calls ended runs by Rodriguez and Daniel Gomez as well. Another goal was disallowed near the end of the half.

“I’m pleased,” said Earls. “Everybody got playing time.”

VIKETTES 3, LADY DEVILS 0

Head coach Sherri Constable was pleased with what she saw out of the Lady Devils Tuesday, which featured a big defensive effort to slow down Lowndes’ scoring.

The Vikettes scored once in the first half, a goal nine minutes into the contest. They had to wait more than 35 minutes for their next, which came on a teal. The final Lowndes tally was with 21:22 remaining.

Outside of that, Tift held strong.

Diana Reducindo played her usual dynamic game in goal, though the Lady Devils had to get temporary help from an unlikely source.

Reducindo had to exit the field prior to a crucial penalty kick. Constable’s usual backup option is Midori Moffett, but she needed Moffett more on the field. So was her second option, leading Constable to eye Lauren Brey.

Two minutes into the second half, Brey quickly slipped on the gloves and stood in the net. Brey slapped the away the penalty kick and Lowndes’ attempt at the rebound. Soon after, she tipped away another shot. Reducindo then reentered the contest and gave Brey a big hug on her way to the goal.

Caroline Dotson almost netted Tift a goal in the first half, the Vikettes’ keeper having to make a tip save. Kim Sanchez had an attempt blocked.

The second half saw a more concentrated offense from the locals, with Sanchez and Gigi Elizalde firing shots at the goal in the first few minutes. Laura Kate Wright had an attempt go right of the net.

Tift’s back line cut off potential Lowndes runs on several occasions, redirecting forwards away from Reducindo.

The Blue Devils and Lady Devils are scheduled to go to Colquitt County Friday. They swept Colquitt in Tifton earlier this season.