By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
HATTIESBURG – The premature end to their 2022 season in the first round of the NAIA Women’s Soccer National Tournament didn’t sit well with William Carey University.
The Crusaders came out for their 2023 season opener loaded for bear, and they didn’t let up, scoring a dominant 6-1 victory over Missouri Valley College Saturday night at Danny Owens Field.
“It’s really the next player has to step up, and I think some of them have,” said head coach Danny Owens. “I think the creativity of the players when they go forward is a big strength we have.
“We’ve decided not to coach them on what to do when they go forward. We want them to express themselves. They really enjoy having the ball at their feet.”
Like Carey, which finished 16-3-2 last season, MVC was also a tournament team and was also eliminated in the opening round, finishing 15-3-3.
But it was all Crusaders as they scored early and often, getting contributions from multiple players, both starters and off the bench. Senior Julia Herbst had two goals, and freshman Zalma Torres came off the bench to score twice and assisted on another goal.
“It’s exciting,” said Torres, who comes to Carey from Phoenix, Arizona. “I have the expectations for myself to just play my hardest, especially since I didn’t start. So it was a good start to the season for me and for the team.”
On a team that returns three of its top four scorers from last season and eight starters, Torres has found the transition from high school to high-level NAIA soccer aided by having a veteran corps.
“I still haven’t quite settled into the tempo yet,” said Torres. “We started kind of sluggish, but we picked it up as the game went on.”
Torres wasn’t the only bench player to make an impact. Junior Lauren Jones, a former Sacred Heart High standout, came in midway through the first half and sparked the Crusaders’ decisive rally.
Jones roared in from the right side to find Torres open 15 yards away with a clear look just right of the near post, and the freshman buried the shot, putting Carey ahead for good 2-1.
“I think we are deep,” said Owens. “We knew Zalma could do this, she just needed an opportunity to show herself.
“Same with Lauren. You don’t usually see a right back coming in that changes the game, but I thought she helped s change the game there late in the first half.”
WCU served notice early that it was ready to play, scoring less than four minutes into the game.
Senior Fernanda Pena Nieto rammed in a point-blank shot from in front of the net after taking a pass from freshman Christina Salmon streaking in wide-open from the left side. Viking freshman goalkeeper Marina Bujalance had no chance to stop Nieto’s shot at 3:51.
It was the beginning of a barrage against the outmanned Bujalance. In all, Carey had 24 shots, 12 on goal.
Still, MVC tied the game just five minutes later on a fluke goal resulting from a miscommunication in the Crusaders backfield.
Viking junior Miriam Alguero dropped a pass from the left side to sophomore Ashley Arribas, who floated a shot that somehow got over the head of Carey keeper Marlen Klem and into the net at 8:25.
“Livia (Pertl) was going to get it and Marlen called her off,” said senior fullback Ashley Arnoult. “It’s a rule that when a goalie calls you off, you’ve got to get out of the way. She just missed it and it went over her head.”
The goal seemed to rattle Carey a bit, but the Crusaders kept pushing forward, leading to Torres’ go-ahead goal at 30:13.
That was the spark that Carey needed, as they hit the throttle and peppered the Viking goal with four shots, two on target, by junior Mariangela Jimenez in the 32nd minute, and by Arnoult in the 39th minute.
But it was Torres who put the cap on the surge, arcing a 30-yard bomb into the net unassisted at 39:22, and Carey headed to the locker room at halftime with a commanding 3-1 lead.
And the Crusaders came out even more fired up for the second half, getting three good looks in the first three minutes of the half, and senior Julia Herbst slammed the third one in from 10 yards out on a pass from Jones and a 4-1 lead at 47:50.
“We talk about it every game,” said Owens. “We started the first half very well, hit a lull there, but came back.
“We know at halftime, their coaches are going to make adjustments and peps them up, so it was important to come out the second half, set the tone and not let them back into the game.”
After that, it was a Crusaders feeding frenzy. Jones had a shot that was saved, then senior Maria Azarias fired one high, but planted one in the net on a pass from Torres, a point-blank shot just inside the near post at 60:39.
Azarias also assisted on the last goal of the night, less than a minute later, feeding Herbst for a header in front of the net at 61:12. For the game, 11 different players had shots for Carey, led by Azarias with four, and nine had shots on goal
“I think all of our players are good with their feet,” said Azarias. “We know how to play with the ball. When Danny puts me at the forward, he expects me to go in and score. And all of our players can do that. We’re focused on the ring.”
Klem only faced eight shots, just three on goal, thanks to a veteran back line that returns three starters.
“We’ve got Chole (Strickland) who’s also a returning starter,” said Arnoult, a Gulfport product by way of the University of Louisiana, now in her second season as a starter in the back for the Crusaders.
“Then we’ve got a new center back (freshman Livia Pertl), who’s tall and can win balls in the air. And we’ve got some returning players fighting for a position at outside back, and they’re all solid. We’re doing good, working hard.”
Although his team performed at a high level in its 2023 debut, Owens said there is plenty of room for improvement.
“We’ve got to get better,” said Owens. “We didn’t play particularly well tonight. It was our first game and we’ll get better.
“We’ll go on the road Tuesday to play a tournament team from last year, then come home to play another tournament team. So it doesn’t get any easier.”
Carey will travel to face Reinhardt Tuesday in a 5 p.m. start, then it’s back home next Saturday to battle Louisiana Christian.
Photos courtesy of Jesse Johnson
