By MARSHALL MOORE

mmoore@gctelegram.com

Memorial Stadium has proven to be friendly for the Garden City High School girls soccer team this season.

The Lady Buffaloes defeated Derby 2-1 on Monday, extending their current win streak to three games. Garden City (11-3, 6-0) is 4-0 at home with its only losses taking place in Wichita.

"It was a tough game," Lady Buffaloes head coach Joaquin Padilla said. "They moved the ball really well, and sometimes we have trouble marking teams that can do that."

A quick goal with 36 minutes remaining in the first half by Erma Reyes gave Garden City an early 1-0 advantage. The Lady Panthers struck back later in the half on a goal by striker Jamie Holfz that knotted the score going into the half. Despite out-shooting their opponents, the Lady Buffaloes struggled to put the ball in the back of the net and pull away from upset-minded Derby.

"We get teams on the hook, and then sort of give the other team confidence," Padilla said. "If we're not scoring they get confident and things get harder as time passes."

Freshman Mari Ruvalcaba broke the scoring drought in the second half, knocking one in on an assist from Cindy Benitez. The one goal advantage proved to be enough for the Buffaloes, who clinched their 11th win in the last 12 games.

"It was a good game," Padilla said. "Everyone played well, I thought. We just didn't score as many as we could have."

After a short break from their Western Athletic Conference schedule, Garden City will pick back up on Thursday against Great Bend at Memorial Stadium. The Lady Buffaloes sit atop the WAC standings at 6-0 with only conference games remaining.

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Derby 1 0 -- 0

Garden City 1 1 -- 2

First Half

GC--Erma Reyes (unassisted)

D--Jamie Holfz (unassisted)

Second Half

GC--Mari Ruvalcaba (Cindy Benitez)