YOUTHFUL MAVS FALL TO HERITAGE, 2-0

irst-year Southside coach Bijan Timjani knew the moment he took the job that the Lady Mavericks were going to suffer some growing pains. Despite a valiant effort from keeper Melanie Rice, the Mavs were no match for Rogers Heritage on Tuesday. Junior Pam Seiler scored a pair of first-half goals as the Lady War Eagles defeated the Mavericks, 2-0, at Rowland Stadium. “Melanie was awesome,” Timjani said. “She had 10 legitimate saves, if not more. We had some new kids that played defense in the second half that played better than experience allows them. I can’t be unhappy; we have really young kids.” Rice finished with 12 saves in all, including a handful of saves in the early going. Kenadi Coones of Heritage missed two wide open shots on goal at the 25:16 and 20:19 mark of the first half. Then, just as the Mavericks were trying to settle things down, Heritage’s Amber Martinez had a chance to break a scoreless tie with a free kick. But Rice snatched the short drive at the 13:01 mark. Heritage finally broke through, however, with the help of a deflected kick when Seiler got one by Rice at the 11:18 mark. “It was deflected and I didn’t get a good hand on it,” Rice said. “We lost a lot of seniors last year, so we need to work on our chemistry more and learn how to connect. We have some upcoming players we have to help out.” “This is a rebuilding year for us,” Timjani said. “We’re trying to get some chemistry going. We have some growing pains. It’s going to happen, but it’s going to happen slowly.” Rogers added to its lead with three minutes left in the first half when Seiler curled one past Rice. Other than the two goals, however, the 5-foot-10 Rice was solid. “You can’t ask any more from Melanie,” Timjani said. The Mavericks, who open 6A-Central play on March 12 against Conway, only had five shots on goal. Sophomore Emily Forsgren had two early chances. She missed again with 2:50 left. “You can’t replace experience, so it’s going to take time,” Timjani said. “We have some good kids coming up; they just have to be patient.”

YOUTHFUL MAVS FALL TO HERITAGE, 2-0

KEVIN TAYLOR

Times Record | 3/6/2019

PHOTO CREDIT: Jamie Mitchell