It was the Tania Alvarez show in New Site on Friday.
Rematching with Horseshoe Bend, a school in its first year of having a soccer team, the sophomore attacking midfielder put two goals in net to give her team a 2-0 victory.
Her first goal came off a corner in the opening 20 minutes, her second slipping past the keeper’s mitts with two minutes to play.
“Tania is a really good player,” coach Matt Tarpley said. “She facilitates a lot of our attack, so it was good to see her get the payoff and get two goals today.”
Friday’s tilt was the second between the two schools, with Tallassee winning the first 3-1. While Alvarez got the job done on offense, Tarpley’s defense kept things out of their zone and Horseshoe Bend off the scoreboard.
“It was certainly what we hoped to see,” Tarpley said. “I think our defense played really well. Keeping a clean sheet is always a positive. They kept the ball out of trouble.”
Tallassee’s starting keeper was out, so the Tigers rolled in backup Izabel Diego between the pipes. Diego batted down her fair share of shots, but also got tons of help from her backline to keep the shutout alive.
“The defense stepped up and protected our backup so that was really good to see,” Tarpley said.
In Horseshoe Bend’s first season as a program, Tarpley was impressed by how far the Generals had come. The home team had its chances, soaring a ball just above the crossbar in the opening minutes and clunking a free kick off the crossbar in the second half.
In the end though, Tallassee’s aggressive defense kept things clean enough and paved the way for Alvarez to get her team a pair of goals.
“Horseshoe Bend has gotten a lot better since we played them a month ago,” Tarpley said. “Props to them. But we played well. Our midfielders did well and helped protect our back line.”
Friday was Horseshoe Bend’s biggest showcase of soccer since the school began its program. When the school asked Tallassee to play, Tarpley immediately said, “yes.”
The Tigers were rewarded with a win for their efforts, and even got to do so in front of a smattering of fans clad in purple and gold.
“It was great,” Tarpley said. “(Horseshoe Bend) coach (Austin) Teel brought this idea up to us about having his school be able to host and I love it. I support it. We had some fans who took the day off to come out and enjoy the sunshine with us. It was a good day at Horseshoe Bend.”