ALBANY — Saturday night was a season opening doubleheader in Albany for both Alexander soccer teams, so girls’ coach Todd Norris had to wait a bit for his coaching debut.
Opening night jitters notwithstanding, he rallied his troops to be ready to hit the pitch at the end of the boys’ match. And, when the Spartans started the match against Teresa Daniels’ Blue Angels of Gallia Academy, the weeks of planning and practicing were presented in live action.
Clearly, the Spartans were the dominant side, charging into the defense, hooking up passes, finding open spaces, generally being speedy and dangerous. They moved the ball almost unimpeded, working into and through the defense.
Junior Karah Allison was the early engine with pinpoint passes and deft footwork through the middle. She found Megan Cheadle and Arbor Albano with several opportunities that lead to attempts that just missed the webbing.
About twelve minutes after the opening whistle, Allison stepped into an open spot and launched a rope from twenty yards out into the upper framework. That rip gave the Spartans a 1-0 lead.
Continuing to attack and pressure the defense, Alexander did not let up but could not earn another counter. Then, senior Avery Shields came as a sub on the left side and made her presence known. Allison found her on goalie Gabriella Washington’s right with a nifty pass from distance. Shields one-touched the offering from the angle and upped the Spartan lead to 2-0 with in the thirty fourth minute.
Cheadle closed out the first half scoring with a minute remaining taking a deep cross from Maddie Brookins. She made a glide turn and popped the ball in the strings for a 3-0 lead. Gallia Academy did not mount an attack in the first half.
Norris was pleased with his team’s performance from the start. “I thought the girls played with a lot of intensity from the rip. They looked to play our style of ball throughout the game by possessing the ball. We had time this season to start coaching a new system and the girls executed it.”
That intensity did not ebb in the second forty. Brookins managed to corral a ball that rebounded off her face and drive it back into the framework to grow the lead to 4-0 with only two minutes gone.
The pattern didn’t change much as the second half wore on. Alexander controlled the midfield and kept the offensive pressure percolating. Brooklyn Watkins and Allison held down the middle with Lilly Rider coming up from her defensive spot to assist in the control. Gallia Academy only had one foray into the defense with long range send-ins safely collected by netminder Mallory Sherman.
After several strong shooting opportunities that just missed, Cheadle collected her second marker with eleven minutes to go. It was a rifle shot from the top of the eighteen that rattled the strings and grew the lead to 5-0.
Less than a minute later, Shields chalked up an assist. She worked the ball down the right flank and sent a lead pass to McKenna Moore who collected in on the run. She placed the ball to Washington’s right and it settled in the back of the net for the 6-0 lead.
At that point it was full on substitutions for the Spartans and Blue Angels but the score would not change and Norris had his first “W” as a head coach.
When asked about that debut as a coach rather than a player, he said “It felt good to be able to decide how we want to play. As a player you are out there and can go do it but as a coach you are able to see everything that is happening and can adjust. I like to look at the small things that are happening and adjust as need be to give us the best advantage tactically against the opposition.”
“Overall this was a strong win and started the season off with showing the capability we have as a team.” Alexander’s teams will stay at home Tuesday to host both Jackson squads in the second double header of the early season.
SCORING:
Alex: 3 3 6
Gallia: 0 0 0
Alex: Allison 1st 28:18 1-0
Alex: Shields (Allison) 1st 06:34 2-0
Alex: Cheadle (Brookins) 1st 01:16 3-0
Alex: Brookins 2nd 37:38 4-0
Alex: Cheadle 2nd 11:44 5-0
Alex: Moore (Shields) 2nd 11:10 6-0
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