GIRLS SOCCER: Odessa High proves point in shutout rivalry victory over Permian

The Odessa High girls soccer wanted to show a better effort against Permian.

The Lady Bronchos defeated the Lady Panthers on penalty kicks on Feb. 16, but weren’t pleased with not taking all three points from the game.

Odessa High left no doubt Friday night as it took down Permian 3-0 in District 2-6A action at Ratliff Stadium. For a heavy majority of the game, the Lady Bronchos were the more aggressive team and kept putting pressure on the Lady Panthers’ defense.

“I think that we watched some film from the last time we played,” Odessa High head coach Cecilia Kellar said. “And I think we were disappointed with our play last time so I think that the girls came in with the right mindset today that they wanted to perform at a higher level than they did the last game.”

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Odessa High (16-6-0 overall, 6-2-1-0 district, 20 points) knew coming into both teams’ penultimate district and regular-season game that Permian couldn’t catch it in the standings.

The Lady Bronchos still played like it had a ton to prove. They opened the scoring seven minutes in when a pass from the midfield bounced around Permian’s penalty box and fell to the feet of Alondra Venegas, and easily tucked the ball into the net.

Venegas scored again with less than a minute to go in the first half when Permian (14-7-1, 3-4-0-1, 10 points) couldn’t clear a pass from the Odessa High midfield. Venegas rounded a defender to get a foot to the ball and poked it into the net.

“I think that we probably had less opportunities this game than the previous,” Kellar said. “But I think that they were much more quality and that’s something we’ve really been focusing on … some of them weren’t just the perfect ones. I think both of Alondra’s goals were just hustle goals and making something happen.”

Permian couldn’t muster a second-half comeback as Odessa High took a three-goal lead four minutes into the second half.

That’s when Miranda Cardona met a pass in stride and took her time to slot the ball past the diving hand of Lady Panthers’ goalkeeper Jenafur Warren and into the back of the net.

After the game, Permian head coach Chad Peterson wasn’t pleased with his teams’ effort. The Lady Panthers had defeated Amarillo Tascosa 5-0 Tuesday, but didn’t give the Odessa High backline too much trouble. Permian’s best chance to score came in the second half when a Tye Jones shot hit the post.

“This was real simple — two teams came out here, one team came out to play and one team came out to work. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out which team was which,” Peterson said. “I think we worked our way into 20, 25 minutes with them in the first half. After that, we were just looking for the one mistake to go wrong, almost as if we were looking for an excuse to pack it in.”

The win maintains Odessa High’s spot in the driver’s seat for second place in District 2-6A. Any points on Tuesday against Midland High would clinch it.

Permian is now locked into the No. 4 seed from the district and will face the District 1-6A champion in the bi-district round of the playoffs.

It was also senior night for Odessa High, which saw six seniors play for most likely the last time at Ratliff Stadium.

“It was just sad because I’ve played soccer like since I was 4 years old and knowing that it’s all coming to an end, it was just sad,” said Odessa High senior Taylie Jones, who helped keep Permian scoreless in the game. “But I wanted to make it memorable, I wanted to leave my mark on this field so I just knew that I had to go out there and give it my all.”

Jones and the rest of Odessa High’s squad did just that to inch closer to the No. 2 district seed.