Garner girls soccer shuts out East Wake for first win
To say it’s been a rough go for the East Wake girls soccer team the first few weeks of this season would be an understatement, and on Wednesday evening Garner added to the Warriors’ woes as Grace Bondurant scored four goals to pace the Trojans’ 9-0 mercy-rule shortened victory in a Greater Neuse River Conference contest.
Garner (1-4, 1-0 GNRC) scored four goals in the opening 10 minutes of play, eventually ending things when Sonora Groulx’s shot from about 25 yards out bounced just inside the right post for the Trojans’ ninth goal with 30 minutes remaining in the second half.
“We had a slow start to the season but we had a tough non-conference schedule with Millbrook, Middle Creek, Heritage, tough schools,” said Garner coach Jennifer Enyeart. “The girls knew that, and we put those defeats behind us and they wanted a fresh start.
“We wanted to get off to a good start (this game). That was the big thing, controlling the game from the get-go.”
East Wake (0-8, 0-2) has been outscored 45-1 this season, and Wednesday’s outcome marked the fourth time coach Michael Howes’ team has lost 9-0.
The Warriors did muster a few scoring opportunities, most notably late in the first half when Sandy Gonzales got past a few defenders for a one-on-one against Garner goalie Cassidy Wilson, but Gonzales’ shot from about 15 yards away was easily handled by Wilson.
“We’re just having a really tough time with it,” Howes said. “The girls are playing well at certain points in the game, but tonight their forwards were so much faster than our defenders, they just ran by them and put the ball in the goal.
“The girls are really, really down, and we still have most of the season ahead of us. It’s tough for all of us right now.”
Kiara De La Torre got things started early, scoring 49 seconds into play on a header off a corner kick. Bondurant followed a few minutes later with her first goal, scoring off a rebound to make it 2-0.
Garner made it 4-0 later in the first half, scoring twice in a span of 19 seconds. Madison Mingia found the net on a 20-yard boot with 31 minutes, 18 seconds remaining and Bondurant then scored from close range moments later.
They said it
“Honestly, we had a better warm-up than we’ve ever had,” Bondurant said. “We were all excited to play, it was our first conference game and we really wanted to win it.”
Three to know
Grace Bondurant, Garner: Her speed gave East Wake’s defense fits throughout, as the junior was able to frequently work her way into open space near the Warriors’ goal.
Kasey Adams, Garner: The sophomore midfielder scored one goal, but nearly had several others, often putting pressure on East Wake’s defense.
Olivia Huffman, East Wake: The sophomore goalie allowed a few soft goals, but she made some nice saves in traffic early on to keep things from getting further out of hand.
This story was originally published March 16, 2016 at 9:46 PM with the headline "Garner girls soccer shuts out East Wake for first win."