Coming off a week best described as Murphy’s Law — whatever could go wrong, did — Allen Community College’s women were in dire need of a pick-me-up.
And while the Red Devils were without the services of five starters and their head coach Saturday against Hesston, interim head coach Julie Guerrero had a simple message.
Just relax.
“We brought them in at halftime, and told them to just relax,” Guerrero said. “Just play the field. The game will come to you.”
Message delivered.
The Red Devils dominated possession, especially in the second half, and received goals from Claudia Zahura and Danielle Jeffcoat 10 minutes apart to pull away in a 3-1 victory.
“The girls did a fantastic job,” Guerrero said. “They really deserved this.”
The injury and illness bug left ACC without five starters and several other reserves, prompting Guerrero to shuffle the lineup.
Meanwhile, Allen’s head coach Jeremy McGinnis had to watch from the parking lot due to a one-match suspension, “after getting the quickest red card in history,” he said, in a 1-1 tie with Pratt last week.
Even so, Guerrero was bullish on Allen’s chances at the start, against Hesston’s pack-it-in defensive strategy. While it was difficult for the Red Devils to get open upfield, Allen also didn’t have to worry much about counter-attacks.
The game was scoreless until Allen’s Stefany Ortuno blasted a shot from near the midfield stripe that eluded the reach of Hesston’s goalkeeper in the 15th minute.
But the Larks scored the equalizer on a broken play, after Allen’s Allison Conrow blocked a shot from the left side. The rebound and subsequent scramble left Hesston’s Torrance Gonzalez in place for the easy putback.
Guerrero sensed a bit of frustration at halftime, so his message was simple.
“I think that was the only time we did get shook, when we conceded that goal,” Guerrero said.
His message: Just keep doing what you’re doing. The goals will come.
Indeed they did.
Danielle Jeffcoat set up the game winner from the right side, with a brilliant pass to Zahura just inside the 18-yard stripe.
Zahura’s shot zipped by the goalkeeper to give Allen the lead.
