Tech girls rebound to edge Basic, move back into fourth

By halftime, Basic’s girls soccer team had dominated host Tech on Thursday, outshooting the Roadrunners 13-2 with five shots on goal.

None of that seemed to matter midway through the second half, though.

Rachael Montoya scored the winning goal 15 minutes into the second half, and Tech held on to beat the Wolves 1-0 to grab sole posession of fourth place and the final playoff spot in the Southeast League.

The goal was the sophomore forward’s team-high 18th of the season, and it came after the Roadrunners learned Tuesday’s upset victory at first-place Green Valley was ruled a forfeit because of use of an ineligible player.

“We pretty much just got back the three points we lost,” Tech coach Josh Jones said. “Nobody expected us to beat Green Valley, and so I think this was probably the game that will decide who will be in fourth place.

“Beating Green Valley was a bonus, and then all of sudden, getting those points taken away, our girls were on an emotional roller coaster ... I think it drained them in the first half.

“We had to start two players who normally don’t start on the outside mids, and so I don’t think we played up to our abilities in the first half.”

The Wolves held Montoya — and Tech’s offense — in check through 40 minutes, allowing only one shot on goal while keeping the ball on Tech’s side of the field.

But the Roadrunners team captain broke through the Basic defense in the 55th minute, nabbing a pass from Kayla West on the right side of the field and firing home a right-footed shot into the back of the net.

“(Montoya) dictates our team. She’s kind of a marked person,” Jones said. “She gets easily frustrated if she’s not getting the ball. We play how she plays.

“If she’s not having a good game, it drags our team down. If she scores a goal early, it uplifts our whole team. She’s the person we gear our entire game around.”

The goal proved to be the turning point of the match, as the Wolves mustered only a handful of shots through the rest of the second half, and Tech goalkeeper Makala Lemley quickly made three saves to seal the shutout.

The Roadrunners outshot Basic 9-6, with three of them on frame, in the second half.

“Last year, we would let down, because we thought we got it,” Montoya said. “But this year, I think we stick with it and end up knowing that we can win, and we just got to get our minds set that we can do it.

“Once we get that first goal, we stay with it, and we don’t let down.”