It took the Lady Tigers 39 minutes to score their first goal. After that, the scoring came much more easily in a 5-0 win at home over Greenwood Tuesday.
Playing with the wind at their backs in the first half, Republic dominated possession but failed to capitalize. About 12 minutes into the game, the Lady Tigers had a goal waved off by an offside penalty after Jocelyn Carpenter fed the ball to Emily Jordan for an apparent score.
It took 27 more minutes for Republic to find the back of the net, when Emily Jordan scored unassisted with :55 remaining until halftime.
“We had a slow start in the beginning when we were with the wind, and it looked like we were kind of going through the motions,” says coach Mike Hines. “In the second half, we had to work a little harder. That meant we had to work off the ball a little harder, so we were more efficient with our passes and our runs.”
Coming out of the break, the Lady Tigers struck quickly. Carpenter fed Jordan again about 90 seconds into the second half to make it 2-0. The Lady Tigers made it 3-0 when Carpenter was fouled in the box and scored on a penalty kick.
Ten minutes later, Lesleigh Fenton boomed in a kick from about 30 yards out, curling it beyond the outstretched arms of the goalkeeper to give Republic a 4-0 lead.
Emily Griffith rounded out the scoring with just over three minutes remaining.
With the win, Republic improves to 11-2. The Lady Tigers host Nixa Tuesday.