Staff report

PORT NECHES — It’s a new race in District 22-5A girls soccer.

Kelsie Comeaux’s left-footed volley off her left foot with 20 minutes left before halftime turned out to be all Port Neches-Groves needed Tuesday to beat Nederland 1-0. The loss now creates a three-way tie among the two teams and Lumberton for first place in the district at 8-2.

“I’m very proud of our team because we beat them by sticking to our tactical plan,” PNG coach Aimee Bates said. “They were smart and had relentless effort all 80 minutes.”

PNG (16-3-3) outshot Nederland 9-5 before Comeaux’s goal. The Indians placed Halley Smith defensively on Meg Sheppard, who came into the game with 33 goals on the season. Bates said the goal for Smith was to keep Sheppard from trying to go inside for her shots.

“Our midfield played big tonight, too,” Bates said. “Mackenzie Tindel and Ariel Muller were all over the place and swarmed their midfield. Our forwards played high pressure, too.”

The win marked PNG’s 16th shutout of the season. PNG has outscored opponenets 80-7, mostly with Libbie LeJeune in goal.

“She’s phenomenal,” Bates said.

 

BOYS SOCCER

PNG 4, Nederland 1

NEDERLAND — Preston Riggs has scored almost 40 goals this season, but Tuesday was Jadon Lovejoy’s turn to be the man of the match.

Lovejoy scored twice and assisted on another goal as the Indians posted a big three-goal win over the Bulldogs. Riggs had two assists to go with a goal, while Mario Oceguera also netted one and Landon Sandell assisted on one.

 

Bob Hope 4, Hamshire-Fannett 2

Carlos De La Rosa scored twice, Gerardo Figueroa and Ricky Perez each added a goal, and Bob Hope improved to 4-1 in District 20-4A.

 

BASEBALL

Nederland 9, West Orange-Stark 1

NEDERLAND — Landon Hiltz and Alan Underwood each drove in two runs, producing almost half of Nederland’s offense in a rout of West Orange-Stark.

Both men scored a run apiece, as the two along with Adam Roccaforte each slapped a double.

Brock Holton and Trenton Simon each had two hits for Nederland (5-0-1).