Demon girls fall 5-1 to Columbus

An early goal put the Washington girls? soccer team into a quick hole on Tuesday night.

With the wind at their backs, the Demons were only able to pick up one goal, and fell behind 3-1 in the first half.

However, when the sides switched and Columbus took the wind, the Demons didn?t let it affect them.

The Demons limited the damage, but couldn?t find the scoresheet again, falling 5-1 in the season opener.

?(In the second half, it was) just those reminders,? Washington head coach Kyle Collins said. ?It was the first half of the first game of the season, so we were getting those cobwebs out. We executed on those things, remembering where we needed to be.?

The Wildcats came out firing against the Demons, with Melissa Maldonado notching a 25-yard shot into the wind for the first goal of the game, five minutes in.

Washington responded a little over 10 minutes later, as senior Kristen Barber found herself free in front of the net for an equalizer.

Columbus didn?t wait long to respond, with Pearl Krieger-Coble answering one minute later.

Janessa Carpenter scored in the 30th minute to give the Wildcats a 3-1 lead.

?They got to learn their positions tonight,? Collins said. ?A lot of them are new to the team and new to the positions. My expectation was to get familiar with what we were doing and what I saw on the field was that. In the second half, we came out and played a better game.?

In the second half, the Demons gave up an early goal to Alexia Santos, but after that played strong defense the rest of the game.

?I told them to do what they did in practice,? Collins said. ?It?s keepaway. We just have to work it down to the goal, and once they did that in the second half, things got better.?

That stronger defense translated into better offensive chances, but the Demons were unable to capitalize on their opportunities.

?We had a hiccup or two up front, but once we got it down there, they know what they need to do,? Collins said. ?When we had it on their half of the field, and kept pressure, we were pretty dangerous in front of the goal. We just couldn?t capitalize.?

The Demons were unable to find the back of the net again in the game, and a late goal from Karla De La Paz rounded out the scoring for the Wildcats, as Columbus improved to 1-1.

?It really didn?t matter, the score tonight,? Collins said. ?It?s the first game, and win or lose, this is what we did right and what I did wrong. We?ll take everything we learned tonight and if we are doing those things wrong next week, that?s when (it becomes an issue). We?ll be a totally different team.?

Washington?s next contest will come against Clear Creek-Amana on Monday, while Columbus will be off until April 14, when they play Mid-Prairie.