From the very first days of summer practice, Angelina College head soccer coach Freddy Drago had one word on his mind: Cohesion.
With just two weeks to prepare for Friday’s season opener against Richland College – both the Thunderduck men and women won NJCAA Division III national championships in 2018 – Drago knew his Roadrunner women and men had talent at their disposal. It was just a matter of getting the squads accustomed to playing together.
Friday’s results showed both AC teams still have a little work to do.
Richland’s teams earned a pair of wins, with the Lady Thunderducks taking a 5-1 win and the men shutting out the Roadrunners 3-0 at Jase Magers Field in Lufkin.
Richland’s Olivia Okoye scored a hat trick to help beat the Roadrunner women, scoring in the 31st, 61st and 70th minutes. Teammates Lauren Ramon and Rachel Rios added goals in the match’s final 17 minutes.
AC’s Bety Hernandez scored the Roadrunner women’s lone goal, taking a corner kick from Lucy Coppin and finding the net in the 24th minute.
The Roadrunner men played the ‘Ducks to a scoreless draw over the first 45 minutes thanks to superb work from AC goalkeeper Sven Van den Oever, who turned in several spectacular saves.
The ‘Ducks broke through in the second half, scoring all three goals in a 10-minute span and holding off every Roadrunner charge.
Both the Roadrunner women and men are back in action at home on both Saturday and Sunday. AC’s teams will face Blinn College in the conference opener starting at 3 p.m. on Saturday. Sunday’s doubleheader against Northeast Community College (Nebraska) will also start at 3 p.m.
The e-mail address for AC’s Sports Information Director is gstallard@angelina.edu.
