Lady Yoe get win over Navasota, set for playoffs against Sealy
The Lady Yoe soccer team hosted the Navasota Lady Rattlers for a warm-up playoff game on Tuesday. They were victorious as they defeated Navasota 3-2.
Cameron started the game off hot and gave themselves some early scoring chances. Ja’Kerra Holt (16) scored the first goal of the game in the fourth minute of the game to take the lead. Cameron continued to keep up the offensive pressure going.
The Lady Yoe missed a scoring opportunity by Giselle Alvarez (22) off a pass by Holt. Cameron scored their second goal on an exciting fastbreak play by Holt in the thirteenth minute. The Lady Yoe kept pressing the offense and missed another scoring chance by Kristal Lara (7) via a pass by Holt in the 16th minute. In the 22nd minute, Navasota had a chance to get in position to score, but the stout Cameron defense put a stop to it before the ball could come anywhere near the goalie, Savannah Nejtek (35).
Cameron went back on offense but missed a shot on goal that was caught by the Navasota goalie in the 23rd minute. Holt continued her pressure and missed another fastbreak goal in the 25th minute. The Lady Yoe defense continued to put pressure on the Navasota offense and gave them fits. The Lady Yoe had another shot on goal that was just missed by Eliza Garcia (8) with nine minutes left in the first half. The defense continued to hold strong as Navasota had one last chance at a shot on goal in last 20 seconds of the first half but couldn’t get the ball in the net. Cameron went into halftime leading 2-0.
Cameron’s offensive aggressiveness picked up where they left off in the first half as they missed a shot on goal early in the second half. The Lady Rattlers finally put up a fight as they took a shot on goal that was saved by Nejtek, and then she made a nice save on a free kick shortly after in the 43rd minute.
Soon after that free kick, Nejtek saved another goal in the 48th minute. The sudden offensive pressure by Navasota would not be enough as Nejtek saved another close shot on goal opportunity as she fell on top of the ball. After that barrage of shots by the Lady Rattlers, the Lady Yoe started to pick back up the offense as Celeste Cardona (15) missed a shot on goal that was caught by the goalie in the 50th minute. Shortly after that missed attempt, Holt completed the hat trick (where a player scores three goals) in the 53rd minute to make the lead 3-0.
“Ja’Kerra is a dominant athlete and very competitive,” Coach Laura Dickson said. “Our midfield sent some very key thorough balls up to her, and she used her speed to outrun their defense and score.”
She had an opportunity for a fourth goal in the 56th minute but just missed. Nejtek made a close save in the 57th minute, then hustled for another save in the 65th minute. Eventually, Navasota broke through and scored with ten minutes left in the game as the ball somehow wiggled its way into the net to make the score 3-1. The Lady Rattlers then scored a second goal with five minutes left in the game. Despite those two unfortunate goals, Coach Dickson feels Nejtek’s performance at goalie was still a great one.
“Savannah played very well tonight, making six saves, and challenging their forwards when balls did get through, and making great decisions,” Dickson said.
Cameron would hold off any more possible comeback attempts and held on to win the warmup game 3-2.
The first-round playoff game for Cameron will be on Friday against the Sealy Lady Tigers, and Dickson feels that her team is ready for the upcoming matchup.
“This was a great practice for us to prepare us for the game against Sealy on Friday,” she said. “Navasota split with Sealy in district, so for us to come out and play a dominating match against them shows us that we can compete against and challenge Sealy, even though we are the lower seed.”
The Lady Yoe will be hosting the game and it will start at 6 p.m.