Wednesday, February 5, 1997

Cooper girls beat San Angelo

SAN ANGELO - A smothering defense and productive offense helped lead the Cooper girls soccer team to a 3-0 District 7-5A win over San Angelo Central Tuesday night.

The Lady Cougars got the only goal they would need with 11:15 left in the first half on a goal by Carolyn Poynor with an assist from Amanda Butz.

Poynor then scored with 17 minutes left in the second half on an assist from Stacy McNeil. Andrea Meacham scored Cooper's final goal on an assist from Kelly Garcia with 1:34 left in the game.

"We dominated the ballgame," Cooper head coach Claudia Blea said. "They made a couple of runs up the field, but that was about it. We only allowed four shots on goal the entire game, and we scored on 25 percent of ours.

"We mixed the personnel around and attacked a lot more than we did against Midland (Saturday). We executed, performed and finished, which is what we need to do every night."

The win moves Cooper into sole possession of second place with a 4-1 mark. The Lady Cougars will next play at Odessa High Saturday at 2 p.m.

Cooper boys lose to Central

Andy Montlongo scored on two late penalty kicks as San Angelo Central took over first place in District 7-5A with a 3-0 victory over Cooper Tuesday at Lee Complex.

The win improves Central's record to 11-2 overall and 4-1 in district, while Cooper drops to 5-8 and 1-4.

The first 40 minutes were tightly played with neither team able to breach the other's defense.

However, the game quickly changed in the second half. Just three minutes after halftime, Central's Dreke Holton forced a save from Cooper goalie Brent Camp.

Two minutes later, the scoreless tie was gone. Holton broke through the Cooper defense and slipped a shot under Camp for the game's first goal.

The Bobcats continued to press forward looking for a second goal. However, Camp denied Montlongo at the 33:20 mark and then made a pair of point-blank saves after a Central corner kick with 16:30 remaining.

Central finally got its second goal of the night with 13:16 left on Montlongo's first penalty kick. Four minutes later, Montlongo blasted his second penalty kick into the net to complete the scoring.

"We played an awesome first half, but the second half we didn't come out ready to play," said Cooper coach Eric Bengs. "We started playing boomball. Central likes to play the long ball and use their speed, but we don't have the tools to play their game. If we can get 80 minutes together, we'll be all right."

The Cougars will return to action Saturday against Odessa High at 2 p.m. at Lee Complex.

District 7-5A girls

District...... Overall

Midland High ...... 6-0...... 9-2

Cooper ...... 4.-1...... 9-2

Midland Lee ...... 3-2...... 9-3

San Angelo Central ...... 3-2...... 3.-4

Odessa High ...... 1.-4...... 4-7

Abilene High ...... 1-4...... 3.-8

Odessa Permian ...... 0.-5...... 3-9

TUESDAY'S GAMES

Midland Lee 3, Odessa Permian 2 (shootout); Midland High 5, Odessa High 0; Cooper 3, San Angelo Central 0; Abilene High, open

SATURDAY'S GAMES

Odessa Permian at Abilene High, 2 p.m.; Cooper at Odessa High, 2 p.m.; San Angelo Central at Midland Lee, 2 p.m.; Midland High, open

District 7-5A boys

District...... Overall

San Angelo Central ...... 4-1...... 11-2

Midland High ...... 4-2...... 7-4

Midland Lee ...... 3-2...... 4-4

Odessa High ...... 3-2...... 6-6

Odessa Permian ...... 2-3...... 7-4

Abilene High ...... 1-4...... 5-6

Cooper ...... 1-4...... 5-8

TUESDAY'S GAMES

Odessa High 2, Midland High 1; Odessa Permian 1, Midland Lee 0; San Angelo Central 3, Cooper 0; Abilene High, open

SATURDAY'S GAMES

Abilene High at Odessa Permian, 2 p.m.; Odessa High at Cooper, 2 p.m.; Midland Lee at San Angelo Central, 2 p.m.; Midland High, open