Tension in Tomball
Tomball Soccer Beats PNG in PKs; Advances To 1st Regional Final
Thomas Bingham
Apr 16, 2018, 11:43 am
The Lady Cougars clinched their first-ever trip to the regional final Vype
After 100 scoreless minutes, Tomball girls soccer (22-0-5) prevailed 0-0 (4-1 in shootout) in the 5A Region III semifinal match against Port Neches-Groves (23-4-3). VYPE Player of the Game Priscella Caruso kept the Indians in check with her saves throughout the game.
"The kid's a sophomore," said Tomball head coach Martha Freisleben. "The kid can't even drive a car yet. Not even 16 yet, and she's in there winning games for us in 5A, so I can't say enough about her."
The low-scoring affair didn't have a lot of goal opportunities until late. Tomball had the teams' best shot in the final minute of regulation, but Port Neches-Groves' goalkeeper Libbie Lejeune made a key save to keep the game scoreless.
Caruso kept the Cougars on track, blocking a Port Neches-Groves' attack in the first overtime.
Because Tomball had the momentum heading into penalty kicks, it wasn't a suprise when it ran away with it. Elaine Griffin was the first Cougar to line up, and flew the ball past Lejeune for the first goal of the game. It set up her team's 4-1 spurt.
With the victory, the Lady Cougars clinched their first-ever trip to the regional final. They will take on the Kingwood Park/Cedar Park winner at Humble ISD's George Turner Stadium, starting at 11am on Saturday.
"We didn't have the best first half [today], so we know what we need to do to have a better game [tomorrow]," said Griffin.
If you enjoyed the recap, follow Thomas (@Texan8thGen) and VYPE (@VYPEnwHTX) on Twitter.
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Oswald Peraza hit a two-run single in the ninth inning to help the Los Angeles Angels snap a three-game losing skid by beating the Houston Astros 4-1 on Saturday night.
Peraza entered the game as a defensive replacement in the seventh inning and hit a bases-loaded fly ball to deep right field that eluded the outstretched glove of Cam Smith. It was the fourth straight hit off Astros closer Bryan Abreu (3-4), who had not allowed a run in his previous 12 appearances.
The Angels third run of the ninth inning scored when Mike Trout walked with the bases loaded.
Kyle Hendricks allowed one run while scattering seven hits over six innings. He held the Astros to 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position, the one hit coming on Jesús Sánchez’s third-inning infield single that scored Jeremy Peña.
Reid Detmers worked around a leadoff walk to keep the Astros scoreless in the seventh, and José Fermin (3-2) retired the side in order in the eighth before Kenley Jansen worked a scoreless ninth to earn his 24th save.
Houston’s Spencer Arrighetti struck out a season-high eight batters over 6 1/3 innings. The only hit he allowed was Zach Neto’s third-inning solo home run.
Yordan Alvarez had two hits for the Astros, who remained three games ahead of Seattle for first place in the AL West.
Key moment
Peraza’s two-run single to deep right field that broke a 1-1 tie in the ninth.
Key Stat
Opponents were 5 for 44 against Abreu in August before he allowed four straight hits in the ninth.
Up next
Astros RHP Hunter Brown (10-6, 2.37 ERA) faces RHP José Soriano (9-9, 3.85) when the series continues Sunday.