The Ransom Everglades Raiders continued their strong season by getting another win to reach a 4-0 record. The team was led by Lindsay Gould ’21 with two goals and Mather Davidson ‘22 with one.    

RE started extremely strong by pushing the ball downfield, and Gould put the Raiders on the board by scoring a goal within a minute of kickoff. The Raiders did not slow down from there, controlling the ball and not letting the Conchs get any shot attempts on goal. Control of the ball lead to the Raiders having the ball near the goal, and Gould was fouled within the goalie box while attempting to score, resulting in a penalty kick. Gould took the penalty kick and scored, extending the Raiders’ lead to 2-0. 

“We started connecting more between the midfield and the forwards, but we still need to improve,” Mia Balestra ‘21 said. “I felt confident when my teammates went to score the PKs because they are consistent players and don’t crack under pressure.” 

Throughout the first 10 minutes of the game, RE remained dominant, not letting up despite their two-goal lead. The Conchs made zero solid shots on goal, and anything ricocheted or bounced towards the direction of the goal was picked up by RE goalkeeper Dani Ortiz ’21.  

RE’s stout defense continuously moved the ball towards the other side of the field, eventually resulting in another Conch foul near the goal. Davidson took the penalty kick this time and scored with nine minutes remaining in the half, bringing RE’s lead up to 3-0.   

After the half-time break, the Raiders slowed down on offense but maintained the strong defensive performance displayed in the first half. Key West tried to pick up the pace and made a good attempt at scoring while there was confusion in the goalie box. However, the ball was cleared, and that would be the last time the Conchs had any decent chances to score for a while. Near the end of the match, the Key West Conchs had one last chance to score off a free kick, but Ortiz ’21 saved the goal to end the match.  

“Our goalies have been really stepping up. Just as a team I think we need to work on getting back and marking people, and the communication, but I think that overall, it was solid,” said Gould. “We know the level of the people that we are playing this week, and we want to make sure that we stay playing at our level and focus on the things we have to focus on regardless of the score. We could have played better, but it also served as a wakeup call for the things we need to work on.” 

The RE Raiders have now racked up four wins on the season, and they look to get another win Tuesday at 6:00 pm in a home matchup against SLAM Academy.