El Reno High School's boys soccer team withstood a whirlwind of shots from the Clinton Red Tornadoes in the second half last week to pull out a 2-1 victory.
El Reno improved to 2-0 on the season with the non-district win.
“I thought we controlled the ball well in the first half,” El Reno head coach Richard Nix said. “But our ball control and passing got sloppy in the second half and that is something we're going to have to fix.”
Clinton, which lost to the Indians last year in a sudden death shootout, took over a dozen shots on goal at El Reno sophomore goal keeper Henry Gallegos - who ended the half with six saves.
Gallegos made a diving save with 30:45 left in the half, followed by a pair of leaping tips over the net at the 15:41 and 12:10 marks.
Clinton's lone goal came at 18:26 on a penalty kick which glanced off Gallegos' hand.
El Reno had only 10 shots in the second half.
“They played hard but sometimes playing smart is better than playing all out,” Nix said. “I think they were trying to do it all themselves and not use their teammates.”
Jose Martinez was high on a header attempt, while having a shot stopped by CHS goalie Eulises Garcia with 25:35 to play. Jesse Trejo had two shots on goal, one sailing high at the 21:23 mark.
Garcia stopped shots by Russell Stiles and Izrael Gonzalez, while senior Juan DeLaTorre had a shot sail high.
El Reno took 18 shots in the first half, 10 of which were on goal. Martinez led the way with five, while Trejo had four shots. Both players missed wide on potential scoring attempts.
DeLaTorre had four shots, while Bence Camacho had three. One of Camacho's shots found the back of the net on a chip shot over Garcia's head with 5:04 left in the half. DeLaTorre was credited with the assist.
El Reno's first goal came off a solo breakaway from the left side by Stiles with 30:134 left in the opening half.
Clinton had 10 shots in the first half, with Gallegos making five saves.
El Reno 2, Oklahoma Christian School 0
The Indians kicked off the season with a goal in each half against the Saints. Trejo scored in the first half, while DeLaTorre scored off a penalty kick in the second half.
Gallegos had 10 saves in the shutout.