From Coach Ed Berberich:
The Lady Aces Soccer team traveled to Salem for a match Wednesday evening, beating the Lady Wildcats 8-1. Maya Smith scored 2 quick goals in the 3rd & 4th minutes to start the scoring barrage, assisted by Rylie Webb on both, with a key pass each from Flynn Guard, on the 1st goal, & from Makayla Beesley on the 2nd. Smith scored 3 more quick goals in the 14th, 16th & 18th minutes, again assisted by Webb, for a total of 5 goals in the match for Smith. Webb added 2 goals of her own in the 21st & 26th minutes, the 1st on an assist from Flynn Guard & the 2nd assisted by Piper Belt. Kinze Cusick scored the 8th & final goal for the Aces with 8 minutes still remaining in the 1st half. Salem scored their goal in the last minute of play. For the match, the Lady Aces took 24 shots, 17 on frame, & created 12 additional scoring chances. Katelyn Kline & Rilee Riggs combined in goal, with each getting a save. Salem took 3 shots, 2 on frame.
We still need to work on our intensity level a bit, but we were able to jump out to a quick a lead in this one so it wasn't really a factor tonight. Moving forward, we'll want to work on raising that a bit as we'll eventually be facing some teams that won't allow us to get away with not bringing that aggressive mindset from the start. With the quick goals we were able to move the new girls around a lot tonight to get them some experience in new positions, which can be really useful in their development. So far this season, we were hesitant to do that too much since they really needed to get that experience at the positions we were looking for them to mostly be playing, but they're starting to look a little more comfortable with the game so we wanted to throw some new things at them tonight. They responded well to it & it'll only help them long-term, which helps the team as a whole.
The win brings the Lady Aces' record on the season to 4-1 (1-0). They next travel to Metropolis to play Massac County on the morning of Saturday 5/22, followed by a home rematch with Salem, and senior night, on Monday 5/24 at 4:30 pm.