Mustangs silence Liberty, close in on SWYL crown
| Wednesday, Feb 08 2012 10:24 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Feb 09 2012 09:55 AM
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Liberty's Sydney Hubble, right, struggles with Stockdale's Tala Haddad who loses her balance while trying to recover the ball passed by a teammate.
Stockdale's offense was frustrated and running out of time.
And so the Mustangs got resourceful: They called on a defender to score the game's first goal and spark a 3-0 runaway at Liberty on Wednesday that puts Stockdale a victory away from the Southwest Yosemite League title.
With about 25 minutes left in a scoreless game the Mustangs had to win -- a tie wouldn't have been good enough -- to take over first place, a handball in the penalty box gave them a penalty kick.
But Brooke Dickens, who normally takes PKs for Stockdale, had a first-half opportunity smothered by Liberty goalkeeper Kaylie Clifton. So this time, Stockdale went to Tori Blackmon, a defensive player who hadn't shot a meaningful PK in two months.
"Tori does a good job taking PKs, and Brooke missed one, so I thought we needed to switch it up," Stockdale coach Janien McGowan said. "It's a mind game, number one. We just thought we'd put a different person in there and make the goalkeeper think a little bit."
Blackmon had no idea she'd be called upon, but she had plenty of time to get nervous.
"They never have me take them," Blackmon said. "All I knew is I couldn't look at (the goalie). If I look at her, it just makes me want to aim at her. I have to look at the corners."
Turns out, Clifton never had a chance. Blackmon buried her shot in the top right corner. Ten minutes later, Victoria Womble slammed home a second goal off a rebound, and Tala Haddad added the third with four minutes left off of a perfect cross from Dickens.
"I said, 'Guys, relax: It's gonna fall,'" McGowan said. "They were trying to do too much. And being up 1-0 helped us. I think it kind of knocked the wind out of their sails a little bit."
As a result, Stockdale (16-5-4, 8-1 SWYL) goes into Friday's game with struggling Frontier two points ahead of Liberty (14-4-1, 7-1-1) in the league standings.
If the Mustangs win Friday, they would re-claim a title they lost last year after winning it 12 times in a row.
"I'm just ready to get that title back," Blackmon said. "It's ours for the taking."
Liberty coach Brandon Hearron said his team didn't play as well as it did in the teams' first meeting, a 2-0 Patriots victory. But it's worth noting that Kendra Duncan scored both goals in that game; Duncan left the team over the weekend.
"We lost one of our top forwards, and we lost two (other) starters this week with injuries," Hearron said. "Stockdale has way better athletes than we do right now, and we've got a fairly young team."
Credit Stockdale for taking full advantage. The Mustangs enjoyed an 11-3 edge in shots and didn't allow Liberty more than one real scoring opportunity in each half.
"We were moving the ball really well, dominating," McGowan said.
McGowan also said the Mustangs should receive consideration for the top seed in the Central Section Division I playoffs -- one prize they have yet to capture after five runner-up finishes.
"We have goals, and one of them was to win league," McGowan said. "It was disappointing when we lost to them, so they knew they had to work hard this game. And I'm proud of them."
