Cary’s Ziade scores a hat trick as Imps girls soccer team defeats Apex Friendship
Cary’s Mia Ziade and Alex Maldonado combined on all five of the Imps’ goals in a 5-1 victory over Apex Friendship girls soccer on Kay Yow night at Cary’s Cooper Field Wednesday.
Cary had full momentum early, scoring in the 22nd minute, on a Maldonado header, and 35th, a Ziade indirect free kick, but Friendship was poised to cut into the lead when awarded a penalty kick in the 36th minute.
The shot sailed over the crossbar, however, and Cary carried the 2-0 lead into halftime.
“We talked about making adjustments at halftime on the types of balls we played and the kind of runs we were making and so forth,” Cary coach Laura Kerrigan said. “The improvements have been coming, even with girls playing in positions they aren’t used to.”
Eight minutes into the second half, Ziade smashed her second goal of the night into the top right corner on a second indirect free kick.
Though Friendship scored in the 61st minute – Lilly Fox converted the Patriots’ second penalty try of the night to cut it to 3-1 – Cary scored in the 48th (Ziade, indirect free kick), 69th (Maldonado, header) and 79th (Ziade).
“I definitely wanted the hat trick,” Ziade said. “This is a really nice one to win and get confidence back, especially with the injuries we’ve had.”
Coaching the youngest varsity team in North Carolina, Friendship coach Derek Blackwelder has seen the team grow over the course of the season.
“We’ve definitely improved. We hold possession, our spacing is better and we communicated better,” he said.
Turning point
The missed penalty kick at the end of the first half entirely changed the dynamic of the game for both teams.
They said it
“We were all in a good rhythm and put it all out there and played for each other,” Ziade said.
Three to know
Mia Ziades, Cary: Scored three goals and also had an assist.
Lauren Repogle, Cary: Came off the pine to notch two assists.
Lilly Fox, Apex Friendship: Fox scored the Patriots’ only goal.
“She hates losing so much, she the one to pick everyone up and tries to win the ball more and gets more aggressive,” Blackwelder said.
By the numbers
18: Shots for Cary.
5: Saves for Friendship keeper Baelee Benevento.
This story was originally published April 20, 2016 at 10:42 PM with the headline "Cary’s Ziade scores a hat trick as Imps girls soccer team defeats Apex Friendship."