Golden Tornadoes upended by Medford

This one was never going to be easy.

The Medford Mustangs girls soccer team showed that it's still amongst the class of the Greater Boston League with a convincing 7-0 home dismantling of border rivals Malden High last night under the lights at Edgerly Field.

From the outset, it was clear that there was an appreciable gap between the two sides, and the Golden Tornadoes (0-6) would have a steep climb in order to get anything out of this one.

"We're building a lot as a team," said Malden head coach Lindsey O'Leary. "At every half and the end of every game we always try to find the positives, and the defense is really starting to work together ..."

Despite Malden's improvements at the back, it took just 2:35 for the host Mustangs to get on the scoreboard, as senior Jamie deRosas found the net from a corner kick, with senior Olivia Timmins (1 goal, 2 assists) and freshman Korey O'Rourke (3 goals, 1 assist) assisting.

The Mustangs (4-2, 2-0 GBL) lost their last time out, against Arlington Catholic on Sept. 16, and were clearly eager to get back on the winning track against GBL competition.

"We're coming off a loss on Friday against Arlington Catholic," said Medford head coach Rachel Perry. "We had a couple of practices the past few days, and over the weekend, and the girls really pulled it together. After practice, they really put it together and it showed tonight."

"We've been working on our ball movement and our corners," said Perry. "We've been working on that corner, the outside post, and it paid off tonight."

24 seconds later, senior Sophie Karon doubled Medford's lead, when an apparent attempt on net from Timmins sailed just wide enough of the right goal post to be corraled by Karon and deftly flicked past the helpless Malden net-minder.

Medford would continue to add to their lead when O'Rourke slotted home a goal with 26:09 left in the first half, assisted by fellow freshman Olivia Allison. Allesia LaRoca struck next for the Mustangs, at the 20:30 mark, with senior Amanda Goguen collecting the assist.

Already ahead 4-0, Medford would score twice more before the halftime whistle, with O'Rourke pocketing her second on the game, and Timmins her first, sending the home side into the break with a virtually insurmountable 6-0 advantage.

3:27 into the second half, O'Rourke completed her hat-trick with a brilliantly placed finish on a breakaway chance.

When asked what she thought the difference between the two sides was, O'Leary was unequivocal.

"Confidence," she replied. "I think that we have so much talent on this team, we have so much skill, but it's the confidence that's killing them right now. It's a mental thing."

The lone bright spots for Malden were the the play of sophomore 'keeper Christina Ascolillo (7 saves), who can take solace in the fact that she did all she could, and the central midfield duo of Anita Caceda (junior) and Devon Moran (sophomore), whose solid play held Malden together at times, according to O'Leary.

The lopsided scoreline nothwithstanding, Medford's coach still knows there is work to be done for her side to reach peak efficiency.

"We need to work on our defense," said Perry. "And more through balls up the middle. We tend to go outside more ... We need to continue to move the ball and work on our crosses and taking better shots."

The Golden Tornadoes face North Quincy away on Friday, while Medford continues its GBL schedule at Cambridge Rindge & Latin the same day.