Prep Soccer: Oak Hills tops Serrano as Middaugh scores two goals in fierce second half attack

At halftime, Wednesday’s Mojave River League girls soccer matchup between Oak Hills and Serrano stood at 0-0.

The first half was characterized by strong defense by both teams, with Oak Hills accounting for the only two shots on goals for both teams.

For Oak Hills, head coach Joe Kulm and the team discussed the best steps forward in the second half.

“We talked about it at halftime like how would we best win this game, and the key for us was just to get the ball in early to our attacking players and just try to be dynamic in how we joined on from midfield,” Kulm said.

The Bulldogs responded and took a two-goal lead 10 minutes into the half. Oak Hills would add two more for a 4-0 victory over Serrano.

The Bulldogs’ aggressiveness and intensity was evident as soon as the second half began. The team attacked the ball and got it into the penalty area much faster than they did in the first half.

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The first goal came from a Sydney Middaugh pass to Alyssa Vernon. Vernon went to take the shot but stumbled over the ball. She recovered to shoot it just to the right of Serrano goalkeeper Ryann Munoz.

Just a minute later, the reverse happened when Vernon passed it to Middaugh, who shot the ball right past Munoz to jump to a 2-0 lead.

Serrano head coach Steven Brenner was disappointed to see the game turn as it did after Serrano’s first half of play.

“I thought we outplayed them for most of the game until we fell apart with the one goal, and then we just seemed like we stopped playing at that point,” Brenner said.

After a 0-0 tie to MRL leaders Apple Valley last week, Serrano lost 2-1 to Sultana. This loss drops the Diamondbacks down to fourth place.

The back-to-back goals by Vernon and Middaugh were a welcome sight for Kulm and the Bulldogs as injuries and illness have recently prevented the two forwards from playing their positions.

“We haven’t had Vernon and Middaugh together for a little while. It feels like just because we’ve been missing so many kids, so we’ve been moving people around for a little bit,” Kulm said. “The two of them when they’re playing together can be really, really tough to deal with.”

Middaugh and Vernon lead the team in goals with 12 and six, respectively.

After Oak Hills’ second goal, Munoz was pulled from goal and did not return the rest of the game. Brenner said that Munoz suffered a shoulder injury in warmups before the game and might have affected her ability to stop those two goals.

“She was not letting on how much it hurt, but I think it hurt more than it was,” Brenner said.

Adding to Serrano’s troubles was a yellow card that was handed out to forward Jaylen Diaz. Diaz would also not return for the rest of the game.

Middaugh was involved in both of Oak Hills’ remaining two goals. She picked up another assist after delivering a pass to Alexia Garcia, who shot it past new goalkeeper Elanna Armenta at 24 minutes in.

Nine minutes later, Middaugh received a pass from Mikaela Maldonado and hit a bullet right into the goal.

Serrano attempted to put one score on the board, but it was to no avail. Oak Hills’ back line of defenders stuffed all of Serrano’s chances at scoring.

Serrano (7-4-4, 2-2-1 MRL) looks to end its losing streak on the road at Burroughs on Friday, while Oak Hills (8-4, 4-1 MRL) tries to add to its three-game winning streak at Hesperia.

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Prep Soccer: Oak Hills tops Serrano as Middaugh scores two goals