Red River tops Central 3 - 0 in girls high school soccer match Thursday night

Grand Forks Red River coach Jessica Krog and Grand Forks Central coach George DuBois each saw encouraging improvement Thursday night compared to their season-opening losses two days before.

That still meant the Roughriders were in complete control at Cushman Field.

Red River limited Central to one shot on goal in a 3-0 victory in the first rivalry matchup played on the recently installed artificial turf.

"I thought our back line did a really nice job because Central had some good forwards," said Krog, whose team lost 4-0 to Fargo Shanley in the season opener. "Anytime you only give up one shot, it's a good defensive effort."

The Knights also exhibited a stronger defensive effort than in a 7-0 loss to Fargo Davies on Tuesday.

"Our first 15 minutes were night and day from our first game," DuBois said. "We wanted to stress tight defense and bringing an overall aggressive style to the table that we did not have on Tuesday. For only having one practice and one adjustment, I was pleased with the step forward."

But the Riders landed the only goal they needed with 27 minutes, 1 second left in the first half. Red River freshman Ashley Rone floated a kick high over the outstretched arms of Central goalie Alaira Grant, who finished with 19 saves.

"I thought we played with a little more confidence (than Tuesday)," Krog said.

Red River would tack on an insurance goal with a tally on a penalty kick less than two minutes after Rone's goal.

After Red River junior Payton Salquist was hauled down deep in Central territory, Red River senior captain Sara Elgin tucked a penalty kick inside the bottom left corner.

"To have one of the goals be on a penalty kick is a tough way to give one up," DuBois said.

The Riders put on the finishing touches when Salquist scored her first career goal. Salquist squeezed one through the grasp of Grant with 23:17 remaining in the second half after a feed from freshman midfielder Jessica Dallman.

Both teams play this weekend in Mandan in the East-West Crossover, a difficult event that features most of the top teams in the state.

"It gives us an opportunity to try some things and get some kids some minutes," Krog said. "We're a really young team; some of these girls are playing their second career game. They can get some experience there."