Filling in Monday afternoon for absent Del Norte head coach head coach Lindsey Ibarra, veteran assistant Elizabeth Bailey found out less than a minute after kickoff what visiting Del Norte was up against in a nonleague road match.
Wolverines junior standout Sydney Rey netted the first goal – assisted by senior Genesis Barrera – barely 45 seconds in, then struck again during the second minute and completed a hat trick in the ninth by nudging in senior Preslie Wagner’s attempt which had glanced off goalkeeper Karyme Chavez’s hands and landed directly in front of Rey’s foot. The Wolverines cruised to an 8-0 win.
Bayfield improved to 3-0 with the win while Del Norte fell to 0-4 with the loss.
Both coaches were on edge in the 78th minute as a DNHS attacker successfully pursued a pass into BHS’ 18, warding off freshman Aubree Tideman almost the whole width of the box before being fouled by sophomore Bailey Blouin just outside its border.
Still waiting to face her first Lady Tiger shot, Noonan had an unobstructed view of the resulting free kick which sliced 10-15 feet away from the framework and out of bounds over the end line.
“We’re going to work on keeping our formation put together on defense and learning to work the ball to the outside,” said Lady Wolverine sophomore Arriyanna Cundiff, who followed Rey’s fast three scores with her first varsity goal in the 19th minute, via a Wagner assist. “We learned a formation last week in one day so it worked out pretty well for us – Key was excited that we were able to do it pretty well in a game.”
Denied her second-ever goal in the 20th by an offside infraction called against a teammate caught just ahead of the rush toward Chavez, Cundiff increased Bayfield’s lead to 6-0 with a 27th-minute finish set up by Rey –who’d netted her fourth of the day just three minutes earlier.
Still leading 6-0 at halftime, the Lady Wolverines got going again early in the second half as Barrera converted a Rey feed into BHS’ seventh unanswered score. In the 62nd, reserve Hailey Robinette recorded her first-ever varsity goal. She was unguarded at the DNHS substitute keeper’s back post when a long cross played in from the far side eluded the goalie and found the waiting freshman.
Del Norte will next see action on the 4th against Ignacio (0-3, 0-1)
START SWITCHED: Bayfield’s league match Saturday, April 6, at Alamosa has been changed to start at 11 a.m., rather than the previously-indicated 1 p.m.
