Kirtland Central girls blank Rehoboth Christian 3-0
KIRTLAND — Just 13 games into the 2015 season, the Kirtland Central girls soccer team already has as many wins as it had all of last year.
The Lady Broncos (7-6) shut down Rehoboth Christian (3-8) Saturday at Bronco Stadium by a score of 3-0. KC thoroughly outplayed the visitors in all facets of the game.
Winners of four of their last six outings, the Lady Broncos seem to be building momentum as the stretch run of the season nears. First-year coach Chad Kimball said he believes his team can stay above the .500 mark when all is said and done.
"If we can just pull out a few more wins, we're looking at a much better record than last year," Kimball said. "If we can come out on top against Bosque, Hope Christian or Sandia (Prep), and take care of business against Bloomfield and (Navajo) Prep, we're over .500 for the year."
Three girls scored goals for KC on Saturday.
Senior Kayce Culler got the Lady Broncos on the board at the 17:50 mark of the first half, which broke a scoreless streak of more than 20 minutes to open the contest.
A little more than 10 minutes later, sophomore Christine Young picked up a goal in a one-on-one situation with a Rehoboth defender draped all over her.
With 25 minutes left to go in the match, sophomore Haile Gleason caught the Lady Lynx goalie out of a position and banged home a rebound goal to cap the scoring.
Kirtland didn't dominate the time of possession in the game, as Rehoboth did get a handful of shots on goal in each half. Kimball said he thinks his girls wore down a bit toward the end of the contest.
"Our midfield got a little tired in that second half and gave up possession too easily," he said. "I would have liked to see them work the passing a little more with the defense, dropping it back a little bit and maintaining possession. That's something I've been fighting with them about all year, maintaining possession."
Eighth-grade goalie Jayden Guillory notched the shutout for Kirtland. With 13 minutes left in the game, she made a full-extension leap to get a hand on a Rehoboth shot and keep the shutout intact.
Kimball said she's done a great job filling in for freshman Megan Munoz in goal, who is out for about another week with a torn trapezius.
"(Guillory) has done everything we've asked of her," Kimball said. "She is actually shaping up to be a great utility player for us. She looks like she's going to be a real great striker. She's a good defender and, man, she can make some leaps back there on the backline."
The Lady Broncos get to rest up until Friday when they square off with Sandia Prep (6-4) at home.
Jake Newby covers sports for The Daily Times. He can be reached at 505-564-4577 and jnewby@daily-times.com. Follow him @JakeNewby07 on Twitter.