Jasmine McCree was the catalyst for Centennial Tuesday afternoon, as the senior netted both goals for the Eagles, propelling the 2-1 victory over visiting River Hill.
"It was very good," McCree said. "For the past three years we haven't won against this team, so winning today and getting two goals was a great way to end senior year against River Hill."
The Eagles were determined to bounce back after a tough, 1-0, loss against Howard Friday night, with the Lions handing Centennial its first loss of the year after a 4-0 start.
According to Eagles coach Steve Baxter, Tuesday's win over the Hawks wasn't the best game he's seen his team play, but is is happy to take the victory.
"I was really proud in what we did against Howard, but that's soccer. To come out here tonight –we started off pretty strong, but then I don't know what it was. We weren't sharp," Baxter said.
The Eagles came out and dominated the first 20 minutes of the game, playing the majority of that time within River Hill's defensive side of the field. It took only eight minutes into the period before notching their first goal of the day.
McKenna Griffin flicked on a pass for McCree who ran on to the ball, beat her defender and buried her shot past Hawks keeper Alexa Thompson for the game's first goal.
"This game was really important because Howard was a tough loss and we knew we could come back strong," McCree added. "We pass well. We have great defenders – Madi [Griffin] in the back really keeps us going – and our offensive players, we really know how to connect and play with each other. It gives us beyond confidence."
River Hill picked up its play in the last 20 minutes before the break and tallied four of their six shots of the first half within that time.
Brigette Wang knotted up the game with about 12 minutes left until halftime, taking advantage of a miss-clear by the Eagles. The Hawks launched a ball back toward Centennial's box, where it was accidently headed backward towards the goal. Wang was aware and stayed onside when the ball was played. She garnered the rebound and nailed her attempt over the head of Eagles keeper Courtney Mcvicker for the score.
"Their goal came off of a give away at midfield when we had a wide-open pass to connect side ways to the sideline and then we go away with the ball again. It comes back down toward ours and we couldn't get it out," Baxter recalled. "They ended up getting a ball off our head, and they go down and finish it. But you know, overall we did OK, but we weren't sharp at all. Not by the standard that we've been setting."
The Hawks narrowly came away with a second goal about eight minutes later, as Megan Chun rocketed a shot at Mcvicker who did her best punching the attempt away. Adriana Zakel was there to knock in the rebound, but was caught off side and the goal was called back.