The coaches and players weren’t all thrilled with the process, but Lake Worth Christian girls soccer did enough to take down Katz Yeshiva on Tuesday and continue its unbeaten start to the season.

Angelina Adolphy scored two goals in the 3-1 win as the Defenders improved to 5-0-1.

Lake Worth Christian coach Adam Fabel had hoped for an easy home victory, but down three starters his team had to grind out a win.

“That game looked like a game of survival,” Fabel said. “Big picture, they won the game. Hopefully they learned something from it. But they need to be more prepared and ready to step up.”

In the 19th minute, junior Adolphy stole a pass for the Defenders and then drew a foul. Adolphy took the ensuing free kick from the right side and bounced it into the far corner of the goal, giving her team the lead.

“Since sixth grade, you see everybody before you do the same stuff,” Adolphy said. “Learning just to take those shots, power shots, just nail it into the goal. If you see the goalie’s weak, you got to take advantage.”

Yeshiva had an opportunity late in the half to tie the game when good dribbling from Jolie Aloof led to a shot for Leora Bakst, but her kick was blocked short of the net. At the half, Lake Worth Christian led Yeshiva 1-0.

At the start of the second half, a kind bounce went the way of Brooke Santiago, Lake Worth Christian’s leading scorer, who found herself right in front of the net and easily tapped the ball past the goalie.

“Being one goal down, anything can happen,” Fabel said. “Once we got that second goal, early in the second half, I think it kind of let a little air out of their fight.”

Later in the half, with a comfortable lead, Adolphy added her second goal, which was nearly a mirror image of the first. This time, her free kick sailed into the top-right corner of the net.

Yeshiva got on the board before the end of the match when Dalia Baum went straight through the middle of the defense and shot into the left side of the net. But it was too little, too late for Yeshiva.

Yeshiva is 2-3-1 with a match Thursday against South Florida HEAT. The Defenders, whose lone tie came against Berean Christian, can now rest up during winter break. They face a tough slate of matches come January, beginning with Cardinal Newman.

“Having other girls get some experience, get some field time, I’m hoping that experience that they got today will help carry over later on, as we make a run into the playoffs,” Fabel said.
