John Mounts scored in the first half and Matt DeSimone added an insurance tally in the second half to lead Holley to a 2-0 victory over Kendall in boys’ soccer at The Woodlands.
Mounts scored his team-best 11th goal of the season off an assist from junior Matt Skehan at the 9:02 mark to stake Holley to an early 1-0 advantage.
In the 28th minute, Kendall senior Miguel Aguirre had a direct kick that junior Nathan Warters headed just wide for one of the Eagles’ best scoring chances over the first 40 minutes.
Aguirre came close to tying the game just three minutes into the second half as his chance from 35 yards out ticketed for inside the left post was stopped by Holley goalkeeper Patrick Bower.
Holley extended their lead to 2-0 in the 47th minute as Mounts raced down the right wing to the corner and passed to Matt Wilson. His cross found senior Sal Solis to the left of the box where he sent a perfect touch-pass to DeSimone for his first goal of the season.
Kendall threatened twice over the final four minutes as a Warters attempt was stopped in the 77th minute and a header by junior Michael Gardner was thwarted on a diving save by Bowers in the 78th minute.
Bowers, playing the final 52 minutes with his knee wrapped due to a first half collision, was credited with seven saves in earning the shutout. Kendall keeper Hunter Menze made 12 saves.
“We’re trying to develop some consistency and hopefully we will as the postseason develops,” Holley head coach Dan Orbaker said. The Hawks were employing a serve and chase offensive strategy from midfield up to their forwards to try to take advantage of their team speed.
Holley, now 7-5-3 with one game remaining in the regular season, was trying to secure the third seed which would give them a first round bye and home field for the second round of the Section V playoffs.
