XENIA — The final score ended up at 9-0, but it wasn’t what Legacy Christian head coach Brett Stanley was shooting for to happen.
“We were trying to keep it at seven, but it’s hard to tell kids not to try or play hard,” he said.
It’s tough to be upset with players wanting to give it their all as the Knights did in its match hosting West Carrollton on Tuesday.
Two goals in the opening 10 minutes by Audrey Stanley set the early tone for the Knights’ pressing attack that occurred for much of the early evening. LCA continually charged ahead to put pressure on the West Carrollton back line to play keep up with its faster front line players.
Anna Sweeney added a third just a few minutes after Stanley’s goal on a cross through the net by Hadassah Oliver. After nearly netting a second minutes later with a shot off the post, Sweeney ended up getting another on a 25-yard strike from right of the box on a shot which just sailed up and off the Pirates’ goalkeeper fingertips into the opposite corner.
LCA subbed in fresh legs as the first half played out, but Alayna Allport did find some work in net having to make one save and keeping sharp on a few other charges toward her box.
It made the 4-0 advantage at the break a positive teaching point for Stanley to his players to always keep defense in mind despite having the advantage in play.
“All it takes is one fast break to get a score on you,” Stanley said. “You can have the ball in your half 95 percent of the time and it just takes one run.”
Sweeney completed a hat trick early in the second half, an impressive feat for a freshman, while Allie Graves and Ariel Brandt each netted two goals as well.
Legacy regularly subbed in its bench during the final 20 minutes while moving players into different positions, but it didn’t necessarily stop the goals from coming.
Stanley said it was good opportunity for his team to get a better understanding of each other’s roles on the field and make sure everyone is contributing, while acknowledging it was nice to get a bit of conditioning in at the same time.
“We have several new players, so it’s nice to have a game like this to start figuring out who your team is,” he said. “Got a lot of players playing time in this game, and that’s always fun to get the players playing.”
The win improved the Knights to 2-0-0 this season.
