Pekin 4, Central 2

Pekin kickers got it going
By Times staff
PEKIN -- It wasn't easy, but the Pekin girls' soccer team equaled the program's record-setting 2004 season with its sixth win of the season, a 4-2 victory over Central in a Mid-State 6 Conference match Tuesday at Coal Miners Park.
The Lions' defense held strong for the first 30 minutes of the contest until Aimee St. Andre blasted a shot past Central keeper Taja Green. Two minutes later, Jaleighsa Hamilton got the ball just past midfield, dribbled past four Central defenders and put in a shot to make the score 2-0.
"Jaleighsa just kept dribbling and Jen (Adkison) and I were joking at halftime, saying we weren't sure if she was just going to dribble it into the goal 'cause she was so deep into the box when she took the shot," PCHS coach Edgar Sandoval said. "It was a pretty amazing run and a lot of fun to watch."
With less than two minutes left in the half, Amber Poston fed St. Andre for the senior forward's team-leading 11th goal of the season.
Sam Grimes assisted on Brittany Wright's goal 20 minutes into the second half, her first of the season. Central scored two goals midway through the half, but had no further success.
"This was a great win for our team, and we have five chances to top our win total from last year," Sandoval added.
The first chance to set a new win total comes Thursday at Richwoods.

Central played us pretty evenly the first game and I told the girls just because we won that one, they couldn't take it for granted that they'd win this one. And Central's defense played really well for most of the first half.