Lady Yoe soccer team wins Cameron Tournament
The Lady Yoe soccer were crowned champions of their own tournament last week.
The team hosted an in-season tournament from Jan. 13-15. Cameron started with one game on Thursday against the Academy Lady Bees. Cameron came out on top 2-0.
The Lady Yoe came out aggressive on offense and had a chance to score from Mariana Penaloza (2) in the tenth minute but missed the goal attempt. The Lady Bees tried to take a shot of their own but missed to a save by Savannah Nejtek (35) in the13th minute. Cameron went back on offense but missed a goal attempt by Celeste Cardona (7) in the 23rd minute, which was soon followed by another miss by Cardona in the 27th minute. Halftime would stay tied at 0.
The Lady Bees began to push the tempo and tried to take the lead but failed with the help of a great save by Nejtek in the 42nd minute. Shortly after, the Lady Yoe scored a goal on a free kick by Cardona that found its way in the net in the 45th minute. Cameron kept up the pressure with another goal attempt by Penaloza but missed in the 47th minute. Academy soon began to push the ball to the other side of the field.
The Lady Yoe showed great toughness and defense survived a free kick and a corner kick in the 54th minute. The Lady Yoe continued to play tough and keep Academy in check. Later, Cameron put the cherry on top with a goal by Cardona on a penalty kick in the last two minutes. With that goal, Cameron went on to shutout Academy 2-0. Up next, Cameron played two games on Friday. The first game was against IDEA Montopolis and ended the match in a 2-2 tie.
The Lady Yoe survived a near scare in the first minute of the game as the ball barely missed the net. Later, the Lady Yoe rushed right back with a transition goal by Brandi Drake (1) in the second minute of the game. Cameron kept up the pressure with a miss by Brandi Drake in the sixth minute. That would be followed by another missed goal by Cardona in the tenth minute.
The Lady Yoe continued to pressure IDEA with another missed shot on goal by Alejandra Tapia (23) in the eleventh minute of the first half. That would be followed by another missed shot by Cardona in the 16th minute. IDEA then began to gain momentum and push the ball to Cameron’s side of the field. They had a shot attempt that was saved by Nejtek in the 21st minute. IDEA then tied the score at 1with a goal in the 23rd minute.
Cameron responded by putting pressure on the IDEA goalie but missed a free kick opportunity by Cardona in the 25th minute, followed by a miss by Brandi Drake in the 26th minute. The Lady Bees came right back with a corner kick opportunity in the 27th minute, but with great defense Cameron survived. The game went into halftime tied at 1.
IDEA came into the second half with pressure and had a free kick in the 34th minute but they would come up short. Cameron survived another near scare in the 37th minute as the IDEA shot was slightly off. The Lady Yoe pushed the offense but missed a goal attempt by Penaloza in the 43rd minute, then came up empty on a corner kick in the 44th minute.
Cameron continued to put pressure on the IDEA goalie but missed a corner kick by Cardona in the 48th minute. The Lady Yoe would then be forced to be back on defense and survive a corner kick in the 51st minute. Within seconds, the Lady Yoe would be back on offense, but came up short on a goal attempt by Brandi Drake in the 53rd minute, followed by a miss by Ja’Mya Miller (18) in the 56th minute, which the IDEA goalie barely got to in time to make the save. The Lady Yoe then took the lead 2-1 on a goal by Brandi Drake on the outside of the net. That celebration was short lived as a goal was scored by IDEA in the last two minutes of the game, and the game would finish tied at 2.
The second game on Friday was against the Jarrell Lady Cougars, and Cameron shut them out 2-0.
Brandi Drake had another great game as she scored both goals, and Celeste Cardona showed vision with both assists. Cameron’s first game on Saturday was the semi-final game and was against the Navasota Lady Rattlers, where Cameron obliterated them 5-1. Brandi Drake was fantastic with four goals, Mariana Penaloza also scored a goal and collected an assist, Celeste Cardona recorded 2 assists and Ja’Mya Miller also had an assist. That led to the championship game against the Lady Gators of Gateway Prep. The Lady Yoe were victorious 2-1. Brandi Drake scored both goals, and Celeste Cardona had both assists.
“The team is playing really well together,” Coach Laura Dickson said. “We are starting to trust each other and work together. The defense and midfield work really hard to get the ball up the field so that our forwards can take some shots. Defense doesn’t get a lot of recognition all the time, but a lot of these goals are scored because everyone is doing their job. I am so proud of how they competed this weekend.”
Congratulations to the Lady Yoe on a phenomenal tournament as their record now improves to 5-0-5.