DOVER – Molly Williams watched and then casually made her way back to midfield after a high five from teammate Jessica Hale.
Williams stopped a rebound and then kicked the ball right through the hands of Western Boone goalkeeper Cora Somers for the freshman’s first varsity score.
That goal came in between a pair of scores by Mountie junior star Jessica Hale in the first half for a 3-0 lead at the break.
South countered the Western Boone defensive strategy for a 4-0 Sagamore Conference girls soccer win Thursday evening on the WeBo west field.
“The girls looked good,” South coach Roger Azar said. “We have some cleaning up to do, some finishing up to do, but I’m really excited for the season. A 4-0 opening is a good opening.”
Stars coach Shane Steimel used the season and SAC opener as learning experience for his team.
“I think it will be a growing experience for us,” Steimel said. “They hopefully now will realize what the intensity needs to be to compete in conference play. We’ve got great kids. They just didn’t have the intensity to start.”
Hale connected with the net for the first time in the 11th minute on a fairly short kick from the right side. She skied a ball over the outstretched arms of WeBo goalkeeper Cora Somers in the 39th minute.
The Stars (0-1, 0-1 Sagamore Conference) strategy was apparent early. Coach Shane Steimel’s team wanted to keep the ball wide on offense and apply pressure on defense.
“Our goal was to play to feet, but the kids’ composure wasn’t there today,” Steimel said. “We didn’t attack their high line like we should have. Credit to them. They pressed us. We just didn’t play like we should have.”
“I asked my defenders to cluster together, three defenders hold one spot and had the fast defender on the other side,” Azar said. “We started pushing them more and asked my midfielders to drop back more to fill in that gap.”
The Mounties’ (2-0, 1-0 SAC) victory snapped a seven-game home win streak by the Stars dating back to Sept. 13, 2021. It also was the third straight win and second consecutive shutout over the team they tied for third in conference last year.
Hale completed her hat trick with 26 minutes left on a nice assist from Shakhia Burks. She sat on the bench most of the remaining minutes with the match in hand.
“She’s a year round player with a ton of quality,” Steimel said. “She makes her teammates better on the field and is a difference maker.”
South held leading returning scorer Kale Conner and sophomore Rebecca Rustin in check. Rustin had a shot at the open net in the 16th minute, but it was deflected wide left by the Mountie defense.
South out-shot WeBo on goal 20-8. Hale accounted for 12 of those. Junior goalkeeper Olivia Snapp had four saves while Somers had seven.
The win came with a loss for Azar’s squad. Brewer was injured in the 10th minute and did not return
“She heard a snap in her ankle,” Azar said. “I’m very concerned about her wellbeing. I hope she’s ok. When Ella got hurt it created another gap and I was struggling to get it filled, but they finally figured it out and everything synced up.”
South next plays Saturday at Monrovia. WeBo tees up at Cascade Tuesday.
“We need to check to the ball more often,” Azar said. “At halftime I told them they had to protect the lead and they did.”
“Our kids will play better,” Steimel added. “They just didn’t compete enough to hold possession.
