ALBANY — After a couple of tough one-loss games where the Alexander Spartans had trouble scoring, a Tuesday afternoon matchup with the Pioneers of Zane Trace came at a good time.
Adding to the incentive was the recognition of members of the 2018 Spartan team that finished one goal away from a regional championship and a final four appearance. That team set a wins and scoring record in the tenth year of the program’s existence.
Todd Norris’s crew had the definite talent and speed advantage over Katie Lawrence’s side and that was evident at the opening touch. It only took a minute for the Spartans to create space and sophomore Eliza Blaney set the tone with a nice shot inside the eighteen to put her team up 1-0.
A few minutes later, Karah Allison, who had been in full control of the middle region, popped a high ball that glanced off keeper Sophia Blesedell’s hands to double the lead to 2-0.
Keeping the Pioneers in trouble, Alexander dominated all facets of the match and rang up several chances that were just off the framework. Then, in the span of a few minutes, three strikes ended all questions about the outcome.
First, Brooklyn Watkins sliced through the openings the defense offered to drive a shot at the strings. The speed of the ball caused a bobble that crossed the line for the 3-0 lead.
Then, Arbor Albano gathered a defensive giveaway and found Blaney with a nice pass that the sophomore tapped into the webbing to up the the lead to 4-0. Next, Blaney earned her hat trick in combination with Allison who worked through the defense from the midfield. Allison fed the ball in stride and Blaney finished the play with the counter.
With the Spartans easing up a bit, Pioneer Bella Tisi was able to find enough space to get a shot from distance but netminder Mallory Sherman easily covered the attempt.
With under five minutes remaining in the first half, Albano swept into the clear to have a one-on-one with Blesedell. Albano won that battle, upped the lead to six goals, and the running clock rule was in effect.
Norris summed up the first half performance: “the girls got back to our winning way. They showed a lot of control in the game, possessing the ball, and working for the goals.”
In fact, possession was clearly in the Spartans’ wheelhouse, with most likely a 90-10 split in the first half. That theme continued in the second forty as Norris blended his lineup with every sub available and the team linking possession passes rather than immediate attacks.
Still, Megan Cheadle and Allison shook open to challenge replacement keeper Madelyn Dunn. Dunn collected the tries to foil the attempts.
But even with the subs, the multi-linked passing, and players moved to different positions, the Spartans were too much to deny. With under twelve minutes remaining, Allison blasted the ball from fifteen yards for her second marker of the night.
Taking advantage of the open ranges, Blaney camped in the middle of the defense and struck for her career high fourth goal of the match. That finished the scoring at 8-0 and the Spartans were back in the win column.
“We set a goal for the girls tonight to take no more than two touches and just move the ball as quickly as possible. The coaching staff felt we did that. We need to take this win and us it as confidence to start getting games rolling in our direction.”
And the next match will be a difficult encounter on Saturday when the always tough Wheelerburg Pirates roll into Albany. First touch is set for 2PM.
SCORING:
Alex: 6 2 8
Trace: 0 0 0
Alex: Blaney 1st 39:00 1-0
Alex: Allison 1st 35:04 2-0
Alex: Watkins 1st 13:44 3-0
Alex: Blaney (Albano) 1st 12:21 4-0
Alex: Blaney (Allison) 1st 10:15 5-0
Alex: Albano 1st 04:48 6-0
Alex: Allison 2nd 11:35 7-0
Alex: Blaney 2nd 05:01 8-0
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