MAKAYLA NETCOTT (13) scored a pair of goals in Benicia’s 3-2 playoff victory over Cordova.

Makayla Netcott scored a pair of goals and Katie Lovelace added another as Benicia High’s girls soccer team held on for a 3-2 victory over visiting Cordova in Tuesday’s opening round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoffs.

The Lady Panthers (10-8) scored all three of their goals in the first half. Lovelace headed in an Eli Lopez corner kick only five minutes into the game and Netcott scored in the 24th minute when she took a throw-in from Maxine Wade and blasted in a goal from 10 yards out. Netcott scored again three minutes later when the Lady Lancers failed to clear a Lopez corner kick out of their defensive zone, giving Benicia a commanding 3-0 lead at the break.

“We were hyped and hungry for this game,” said Benicia goalkeeper Madison Goodmiller.

“Scoring early gave us a lot of momentum and brought our energy up,” Lovelace said. “That was really big for us because the mental game can get to us real easily.”

“It took a lot of pressure off the game,” Netcott said of the three-goal lead. “It was weird playing a good first half because we usually struggle in the first half.”

“We talked about coming out aggressive, establishing a pattern and being consistent,” said Benicia head coach Javier Martinez.

Cordova wasn’t about to make things so easy for Benicia. Adrienne Hammond scored off a Charlotte Perez corner kick midway through the second half and teammate Emily Yearwood scored off a corner kick two minutes later to make it 3-2 with 18 minutes remaining.

“We were too confident and (Cordova) came out really strong in the second half,” Lovelace said. “They stepped it up and we didn’t.”

“We weren’t playing our best and things weren’t going our way,” Netcott added.

“We got caught on our heels a little bit and let them control the ball,” Goodmiller said. “But we used the pressure to play better.”

The Lady Lancers appeared to tie the game with six minutes left but had their goal waved off due to the referee’s whistle going off before the shot. A shot by Stephanie Garcia with two minutes remaining went wide and Benicia was able to run out the clock.

It was likely the final high school soccer game played on natural grass at Drolette Stadium, which is scheduled to undergo a complete makeover beginning in early June. All-weather field turf will be installed, among several other modern improvements to the stadium.

Benicia, seeded No. 8 in the Division III tournament, will travel to No. 1 seed Manteca for a quarterfinal game Thursday at 6 p.m. The Lady Buffaloes are 22-2-1 this season and ranked No. 11 in the state.

“We just have to play our best and play our own game,” Netcott said.

“I hope this win will propel us going forward,” Lovelace said.

Sharing is caring!