Dolphins’ Paige Surber keeps her eyes on the ball as she goes up to make the header. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)
In a highly anticipated match between the Southern High Dolphins and the ND Royals, the defending champs displayed their tenacity defeating the Royals 4-0 Saturday afternoon at the Leo Palace field.
The Dolphins secured a 3-0 lead by half time behind Southern’s captain and last season’s MVP, Paige Surber. Surber notched in two goals and the midfielder took control of the field, winning almost every ball in the air and on the ground. Collectively, the Dolphins played in their usual aggressive ways and received most of the goal kicks and punts first, thus preventing the Royals from earning lengthy possessions.
Though the Royals were unsuccessful on the offensive side, the Royals defense was still able to prevent a few goal-bound opportunities from the Dolphin offense.
April Talledo put her team up early scoring the first goal of the game from about five-yards out. Surber’s first goal came in the 19th minute after knocking in a penalty kick that ricocheted off the keeper’s leg and into the goal. Later in the 36th, after receiving a pass from Zoe Surber, Paige easily beat the last defender and shot the ball right below the crossbar to make the score 3-0 at the half.
McDonald’s Player of the Game: Dolphins’ Paige Surber
In the second half, Zoe Surber found the back of the net after Tianna Sakaba passed in a grounder allowing Zoe to beat the last defender and tap the ball in before colliding with the keeper.
Due to an injury, the game was cut short as daylight ran out, and the Dolphins took home another victory boosting their record to 8-0.