Aces Soccer Report From Coach Ed Berberich:

The MCHS Soccer Aces recently went 2-1 in a 3 game stretch as the season was winding down. They first traveled to Anna-Jonesboro, losing a close match 0-1, then hosted Salem, winning 4-1 and then finished the stretch off with a 10-0 victory at Harrisburg.

Against Anna-Jonesboro the Aces took 9 shots, 5 on frame, created 10 scoring chances and had 8 interceptions. Tye Kanipe had 4 saves in goal. The Wildcats took 8 shots, 4 on frame.

We came out pretty flat in this one, and it was apparent in the pre-game warm-ups that this would probably be an issue. This was our first day back from spring break and it looked like we were still on break for most of the match. We finally came to life in the last 20-25 minutes but by this point Anna had the 1 goal lead and packed the box with extra defenders, making it hard for us to get that equalizer. Anna's a good team and it's hard to give them as much as we did for the first 50-60 minutes and still pull out a victory. It wasn't particularly surprising that we came out flat after the break, but it was a disappointing showing that didn't represent the way we've played for most of this year.

The Aces bounced back against Salem, winning 4-1 against a team that had improved over last year. Eli Bertram led the way with 2 goals, with Rayce Loudermilk and Ethan Belt scoring 1 apiece. Britton Heinrich had 2 assists and Belt 1 assist in the match. The Aces took 30 shots, 15 on frame, created 20 scoring chances and had 8 interceptions. Kanipe had 1 save in goal. The Wildcats took 3 shots, 2 on frame.

We dominated the run of play in this one, controlling the ball well, moving it around the field and getting off a ton of shots. Salem was a better team this year than last so this was a good bounce back effort after the rough Anna game. Every time this team has a learning opportunity it seems they take advantage of that and start applying the lessons they've learned. The Anna effort gave these guys a chance to take something from a loss and they certainly did that.

The Aces finished this stretch of games by traveling to Harrisburg and beating the Bulldogs 10-0. We had a lot of different players get in on the scoring in this one, with Heinrich leading the way with 3 goals & Rayce Loudermilk right behind him with 2 of his own. Belt, Jarrett West, Levi Beesley, Aiden Garwood & Landon Lagow each scored 1 goal apiece. Assisting on the goals were Rayce Loudermilk, Belt and Heinrich each with 2 apiece, and Brady Decker and Jack Deisher with 1 each. Tye Kanipe was in goal for the shut-out. The Aces took 17 shots, 14 on frame, created 8 additional scoring chances and had 5 interceptions. The Bulldogs took 1 shot off frame.