From Coach Ed Berberich:
The Lady Aces soccer team started off the season with a hard fought 4-3 win at Mt Vernon Illinois Tuesday night. The Aces took an early lead in the 15th minute when Chandler Cusick stole the ball from a Ram’s defender and finished off the opportunity with a goal. The Rams tied the game up 5 minutes later when they scored on a free kick from 30 yards out. The Aces regained the lead in the 27th minute on a goal from Jayla Smith, who beat a couple Rams defenders to get the shot off. The Aces then took a 3-1 lead when Emma Mayhue battled a Rams defender for a loose ball in front of the goal and was able to knock it in. The score stayed 3-1 Aces until the Rams were able to score again in the 57th minute to cut the Aces lead to 1 goal. Mt Vernon then tied the game with 8 minutes left on another long free kick attempt that hit the top of the goal frame and bounced down and into the net. The Aces regained the lead at 4-3 with 6 minutes left when Cusick got her 2nd goal of the evening on an assist from Smith. The Rams applied a lot of pressure trying to tie the game up again but the Aces were able to hold on for the victory.
For the game, the Aces took 8 shots on goal, 7 of those on frame; they had 3 additional chances created and had 11 interceptions. The Rams took 11 shots on goal, 7 on frame. Katelyn Kline had 6 saves in goal in contribution to the win. Defensively, Miley Peach had 4 interceptions, Hazel Earnest had 3, Smith had 2, and Shelby Mayhue and Dani Fisher had 1 apiece.
We’re a pretty inexperienced team, working in a lot of new players that haven’t played much or any soccer before, so it was big for us to get the early lead in this one. Our defense has 2 brand new players to the team, and to the game of soccer, and the 2 returning players are both playing new positions so for those 4 to do as well as they did really says a lot for them. We still have a lot to work on in the back but they showed promise tonight, and Katelyn’s experience behind them will be helpful as we work through some things moving forward this season. Offensively we’re a little inconsistent still but the midfielders did a good job of keeping their shape, working to control the middle of the field, and looking for attacking passes up to the forwards. The forwards did a good job of attacking the goal when they got their opportunities, with only 1 shot that was off frame. The Rams goalie was good, and since she was aggressive coming out of the box she was able to deny us some opportunities that may have led to goals if she’d played more conservatively. Overall, the coaches were really proud of the team. It being the first game for us, and with a lot of inexperience in the lineup, it was impressive how the girls didn’t drop their heads after giving up the lead late to a good team. It would’ve been easy for any team to be down mentally at that point, but the girls fought through that and pulled out the win.
The Lady aces record stands at 1-0. Their next match is Monday March 18th at Olney, who are usually strong, with Varsity playing first at 4:30 pm, followed by JV after.