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Knights bust it open in 2nd half
SOC--Delhi-Ripon Christian pic 3
Rachel Faure of Ripon Christian holds off a Delhi defender as she controls the ball near the penalty box. - photo by Photo by STEVE WELLS

After a scoreless first half, Ripon Christian found its footing against visiting Delhi on Tuesday, winning 5-0 in the Southern League match.

“We just needed to calm down,” Knights coach Kevin Tameling said. “We had trouble putting the ball into the goal (during the first half) – I recalled three of our shot attempts hit the post – I think it got to point where the pressure started getting to us.”

Fortunately, his first-place RC has the area’s top scorer in sophomore Abby Buitrago, who scored twice to up her season tally to 31 goals. She also had an assist off a corner kick.

“(Abby) can make the tough plays look easy,” Tameling said.

Case and point was the game’s first goal. Buitrago raced towards the corner of the goalie box, nailing the unassisted score from a tough angle as her momentum eventually took her out of bounds.

“You do what you can to take the shot,” she said. “That’s soccer.”

Buitrago’s goal at the 44th minute also opened the scoring floodgates.

About six minutes later, she scored from straight away, upping the score, 2-0.

At the 58th minute, Buitrago set up Sam Carvahlo’s goal from straight away, delivering the assist off a corner kick.

Carvahlo scored her second goal of the contest at the 63rd minute, hitting the unassisted shot from the top of the goalie box.

Libby Rivera closed out the scoring at the 70th minute, finding the back of the net from straight away.

The Knights (11-0 in league, 14-7 overall) had a sizeable advantage over the Hawks, especially when it came to shots at goal.RC had a 12-1 shots-at-goal advantage over Delhi (2-8-1 in SL, 2-11-1 overall).

The Knights will face second-place Mariposa on Thursday, closing out the regular season next week with Orestimba (April 28) and Denair (April 30).

Trans-Valley League

Ripon 3, Riverbank 0

A goalie and a defender scored the goals for the first-place Indians (6-0-1, 13-1-1).

Amanda Evans, who has handled goalkeeping duties for much of the year, struck in the 15th and 36th minutes with Cindy Alvarez and Haley Simmons providing the assists. Fleet-footed defender Zaire Davis rounded out scoring in the 67th minute off a feed from Hailey Munroe. Courtney Slamon, the keeper for the day, had two saves and was hardly challenged.