Consol girls blank Bryan 4-0

It didn't take long for the A&M Consolidated Lady Tigers to believe it must be their night.

Just over a minute into the Crosstown Showdown soccer match, Consol got the unlikeliest of own goals en route to a 4-0 victory over Bryan at Merrill Green Stadium on Friday.

Consol's Carolina Orsi ran onto a ball down the right flank, which prompted Bryan keeper Ana Meyer to leave her goal. Orsi pulled the ball back and looked for a teammate in the middle. Her crossing pass caromed off the head of Bryan defender Daisy Salazar at a 45- degree angle and rolled 8 yards into the unattended goal.

"The thing about an own goal is that happens," Consol coach Stoney Pryor said. "Kids are playing hard in the back and a ball bounces funny off their foot or off their body and it happens, and I know when it happens to you, you feel pretty bad. I felt bad for them for that but felt good for us for that. Obviously, you do when things go your way."

The victory kept A&M Consolidated, 8-3-3 overall, atop District 12-5A at 3-0, while Bryan dropped to 10-2-1 and 1-1-1.

Seconds later, the Lady Tigers nearly had a second, with Orsi's cross this time getting through to Kalli Krivdo, but her shot from just outside the six-yard box went high.

Bryan's Jaime Thompson kept the next Consol attack out. Orsi turned well on a ball deep in the box, but Thompson's stretch to block the shot was equal to the task.

"Carolina is pretty fast so that gives us a lot of vertical spacing, which caused them to have to pinch in a little bit, which allowed us to have some run up the flanks as well with those long through balls," said Pryor. "Tonight, fortunately for us we played the combination balls very well in the middle. That also allowed the defense to suck in, which gave us the opportunity to play a through ball."

Consol did make it 2-0 at the 4:45 mark in the first half. Maddie Wilke hit a long corner that Mycah Miller sent back to Krivdo, who made no mistake with her redirect from just inside the top of the penalty box.

Bryan came out with some changes in the second half -- Laura Rogers went into goal, Meyer and Thompson moved to midfield, and Brittany Little went to the back line. The Lady Vikings were more aggressive and were able to have more of the play than they did in the opening 40 minutes.

"I told them they needed to give me their best, not just soccer wise, but mentally and emotionally, and I think they did that and it was a different game the second half," Bryan coach Amy Pettibone said. "I think we played a little scared in the first half and I told them I'm tired of the Bryan mentality that we've got to bow down to Consol. There is no need to be scared of the maroon school."

The adjustments weren't enough, though, to counter Consol's pressure and individual efforts such as the one Miller put on six minutes into the second half.

Miller collected the ball on the left side just outside the corner of the box, worked her way to the middle and just before she reached the penalty arc cracked a shot with her right foot that Rogers had no chance of saving.

Consol had a half dozen other opportunities in the second half, but missed wide with shots or was beaten to the ball near the top of the box by keeper Rogers.

Just before the end, Consol scored on another wild play with a Wilke cross finding the knee of Megan Kriger before bouncing off a Lady Viking and then finding its way to Katelyn Armatys, who sent it across the goal line from in close, but not before it bounced off the cross bar.

Christina Salas played a majority of the game in goal for the Lady Tigers, with Clare McDougall getting about 15 minutes in the middle of the second half. Neither were tested.

"I've got four starters on the bench," Pettibone said. "I'm not trying to make excuses but give me Consol with a healthy squad and I think it's a different game. It's significant and it changes up our offense, especially."

Bryan was missing starters Kacy Shea, Tori Brown and Abby Spiegelman, and lost right back Rose Barrentine to a left leg injury after she made a good tackle in the penalty box to end a Consol threat.