The Sedona Red Rock High School girls soccer team began the season with a victory Monday, Nov. 30, defeating Tempe Preparatory Academy, 3-1.

“I was pleased with how we played Monday. The girls did a nice job passing and finding the open lanes, then the girls up front did a nice job attacking the net,” third-year Sedona Head Coach Tom Cadigan said.

Freshman midfielder Meredith Woodford was stellar against Tempe Preparatory, scoring two goals on the night to lead her team.

“I thought Meredith [Woodford] did a great job out there. She really worked well with her teammates and was the one to score the goals for us tonight,” Cadigan said.

With plenty of talent from top to bottom on the Sedona roster this season, Cadigan believes it could be any player at any point this season to score for the Scorpions.

Sedona took a 1-0 lead in the first half as Woodford scored in the 25th minute which was assisted by senior Sarah Schlener.

Cadigan talked about Schlener’s effort on the field Monday, stating she played an excellent match and gave a nice pass to Woodford for the goal.

In the second half, Woodford scored again to make it 2-0 in the 50th minute without an assist.

Near the 61st minute mark, junior midfielder Emma Kukulski found an opening in the defense and snuck through for a header into the goal.

Kukulski ran past three different defenders to catch a rebound and netted the ball, giving the Scorpions a commanding 3-0 lead.

Defensively, Sedona was on top of its game and the two-headed monster at goalkeeper in sophomores Jonica Wildes and Kaylor Tiffany did a nice job between the posts against Tempe Preparatory.

“I like what I saw out of Jonica [Wildes] and was impressed with the work Kaylor [Tiffany] did as well,” Cadigan said.

It was Tiffany’s first match as goalie for the Scorpions in her first year playing soccer for the high school.

Wildes recorded three saves on the match while Tiffany had four saves. Tempe Preparatory managed only 10 shots Monday.

One of those shots did manage to find its way into the back of the net while Tiffany was in the goal, giving the Knights their first of the season and making it 3-1 with just under two minutes to play.

Overall, Sedona didn’t look half bad on the field Monday and should continue to play well throughout the season with the depth of talent on the roster.

With the victory over the Knights, Sedona improves to 1-0 [1-0, 1A-3A North] overall on the season.

The Scorpions will come home Thursday, Dec. 3, and play host to Phoenix Country Day School.

It is the home opener for Sedona and Cadigan believes his team has a good chance at a victory.

“Phoenix Country Day is a tough team but I think we’ll be OK and it should be a good match to watch,” Cadigan said.

The match is scheduled for a 4 p.m. start time.

Brian Bergner Jr. can be reached at 282-7795, ext. 131, or e-mail bbergner@larsonnewspapers.com