BLADENBORO – The Red Springs Lady Red Devils defeated the West Bladen Lady Knights for a 4-1 victory on Tuesday evening in a SAC 6 Conference match-up.
The Lady Knights struck the first blow with senior forward O’mara McDonald poking in a corner kick from junior Leidi Zuniga Labra in the second minute of the first half. The Lady Knights only led momentarily however and the visitors leveled the game six minutes later with Monserrt Villagomez-Ruiz pouncing on a diagonal cross.
West Bladen attempted to answer back on the ensuing kickoff as senior midfielder Jazmy Funez Aranda made a charging run forward with the ball but couldn’t put together the final product in the opposition’s box. Red Springs got their next best chance with sophomore forward Jurielys Quinones dancing around defenders to create space for a shot but her attempt whizzed past the goal. Alarm bells began to ring in front of the Lady Knights goal while their opponents got ever so close to claiming the lead as possession was firmly in the grips of the visitors. Villagomez-Ruiz continued to trouble her opponents on the left flank by dribbling at the West Bladen defense and delivering dangerous crosses in the box.
West Bladen junior defender Makeena Thurman was able to sprint back in time to prevent a Red Springs shot from crossing the goal line to keep the score 1-1 in the 20th minute of the first half. The recent misses didn’t affect the Lady Red Devils confidence and they kept pressing forward by getting into dangerous areas on the pitch. Quinones and Villagomez-Ruiz did a give-and-go at the edge of the penalty area before Quinones sent her shot wide of the mark. West Bladen sophomore keeper Lydia Harris stopped a shot from point-blank range a few moments later to keep things drawn but the visitors were determined to snatch another goal before the halftime whistle.
Quinones finally broke the deadlock after getting a second opportunity on a deflected shot trickling into her path with seven minutes remaining in the first half. The Lady Red Devils would get their third goal in the 35th minute as momentum began to shift into the visitors favor. West Bladen had an opportunity to score a second goal before the half but failed to steer a header into an open net. Quinones completed a hat trick during the second half by blasting in the Lady Red Devils fourth goal of the evening.
Red Springs hosted West Bladen last Friday evening for the final match of the regular-season and they handled business at home for a 5-nil victory. Quinones bagged another hat trick against the Lady Knights as she helped her team finish the year with an overall record of 12-6. Red Springs claimed a share of second-place in the SAC 6 standings with a 5-3 record and they’ll be a lock for the upcoming postseason. The Midway Lady Raiders also concluded their regular-season with a 7-nil victory over the St. Pauls Bulldogs and they finished their conference schedule at 5-3.
West Bladen finished their season with an overall record of 2-17-3 and they claimed fourth-place in the conference standings. The Lady Knights will depart with eight seniors this season–Ashley Sanchez-Resendiz, Anna Campbell, O’mara McDonald, Yareth Garcia Perez, Jazmy Funez Aranda, Jessica Verdugo-Gomez, Shamora Robinson and Angelyne Rincon. Funez Aranda led the Lady Knights in scoring with 8 goals this season and Thurmen led the defense with 97 steals.
The Clinton Darkhorses are this season’s SAC 6 Conference Champions as they completed the conference schedule undefeated at 8-0. The Darkhorses will have the highest playoff seed amongst SAC 6 teams once the regular-season concludes this week.