Freshman duo propels 'Dogs over LC-M, 2-1

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Freshman duo propels 'Dogs over LC-M, 2-1

PREP SOCCER

NEDERLAND -- So much for high school soccer being only a senior's game. Rob Bledsoe had to rely on his ninth-graders Friday night.

  The Nederland coach leaned on freshmen Taylor Trahan and Hector Garcia for the Bulldogs' two goals in a 2-1 victory over Little Cypress-Mauriceville on Friday night in muddy Bulldog Stadium.

  Some late first-half momentum carried into the second half and mattered greatly for Nederland, which improved to 3-4 and 3-0 after starting the season 0-4 at the Southeast Texas Showcase tournament.

  Nederland's offense owned an edge in shots on goal, 23-15, and busted free from a 1-1 halftime stalemate about five minutes into the second half. That's when freshman Jordan O'Neill set up the angle for Trahan about 25 yards from the goal on the left side. Taylor surprised LC-M's goalkeeper at that point. The Bears thought Trahan was going to unleash a crossing pass, so the goalkeeper came out aggressively. Trahan saw him out of the corner of his eye, changing his shot and firing home the game-winner.

  "That's the most exciting win of our season so far," said Bledsoe, who commended freshman Miles Lawler and sophomore Ryan Washburn for their defensive efforts in trying to contain LC-M's high-scoring offensive weapon, Craig Leger.

  "They did an effective job of marking him and I also thought (freshman) Austin Wyble and (senior) Ryan Clarke did a good job of controlling the midfield and establishing the tempo... But we did lose our composure in the last 10 minutes and we started playing kickball."

  Matt Wiedel's LC-M squad dropped to 3-4 and 2-1 after taking this game's early lead on a bit of an accident.

  An LC-M shot was saved by a diving Nederland goalkeeper Kent Maxwell about 10 minutes into the game. However the ball took a funny spin in the mud and got away from Maxwell's grasp and into the goal.

  Garcia fired home a game-tying goal with a left-footed shot into the left corner of the net with about 15 minutes left in the half. Garcia received a pass from Zac Chandler.

  Nederland will host Lumberton with the District 20-4A league lead at stake on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.