Stallions struggle to recover against Edison

Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune

Madera South’s Jimena Gutierrez controls the ball from an Edison defender during Thursday’s loss. Gutierrez scored the Stallions’ lone goal.

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The Madera South girls soccer team fell behind early and struggled to recover, losing 3-1 against Edison-Fresno at home.

Edison got off to a quick start with goals from Valeria Quintero and Ava Medrano in the first 20 minutes. Medrano added her second goal after the break to put the finishing touches on the victory.

Madera South head coach Ramon Delgadillo said his team continued to fight after the early deficit, but the slow start was too difficult to overcome.

“We started slow and we tried to catch up and it was just harder,” he said.

The Tigers’ defense also focused on containing sophomore sensation Aliah Avila.

“Edison was doubling up on Aliah,” Delgadillo said, adding that his team struggled to connect on their passes. “When we switched the ball to both sides, we got really good opportunities. We just didn’t take the shots. But we created the space. But if we don’t take the shots, we can’t score, and we can’t win.”

The Stallions, however, were able to execute a counterattack in the second half, which resulted in their only score of the match. Jimena Gutierrez finished the play after receiving a pass from the wing and chipping the ball over the goalkeeper.

The goal marked one of the rare times where the Tigers’ keeper was challenged. With Edison dominating possession throughout most of the game, the keeper often stood idly and watched the action.

Delgadillo said he wanted his team to move the ball more often as they did when they scored the goal.

“If we would have done the switching like the way that play came out, we could have scored more goals,” he said.

The coach hopes for his team to use the loss as valuable experience as they go into the playoffs.

“Hopefully we go to the playoffs, then we can get this as experience and we can move on,” Delgadillo said. “Hopefully this will help us play much better with a Division 2 ranking.”