The Carl Junction Bulldogs scored three goals in the first half and six in the second to earn a commanding 9-1 win over the McAuley Catholic Warriors on Monday at the Hershewe Soccer Complex within the Joplin Athletic Complex.
The Bulldogs controlled possession for the vast majority of the match and consistently attacked the Warriors from the opening whistle until senior forward Hannah Franks’ second goal of the match closed it out with the eight-goal mercy rule in effect.
“We talked about finding some composure and figuring out if it’s a one-touch or two-touch in the box and checking our shoulder to see how much time we had,” Carl Junction coach Ed Miller said. “Truthfully, the other thing was their goalie in the first half wasn’t the same as the second half, and she did a really good job coming out and cutting down angles and stopping a lot of shots in the first half. We put the pressure on and wore them down. This was their first game, our second game early here in the season, and I think we’re deeper than they are and that helped us out.
“Our girls did a good job. They came out and played. It’s a mud pit so you never know what you’re going to get when you’ve got a wet, sloppy field. We played on grass for the first time, so it slowed things down a little bit. Proud of the girls’ effort as far as working hard and pressuring the ball, and we had a lot of opportunities. We did a good job passing the ball, so we’ve got to work on finishing when we get a chance in the box because we’re not going to get that many opportunities every game we play.”
Carl Junction freshman forward Ella Anderson, assisted by senior midfielder Allie Wrestler, opened the scoring with the first goal after the Bulldogs had several goal-scoring opportunities, including a goal by Anderson negated by an offside penalty.
The Warriors tied it up at 1 on one of their rare possessions in Carl Junction territory with senior forward Ava Masena’s penalty kick.
The Bulldogs led 3-1 at halftime following a goal by senior midfielder Jocelyn Brown (assisted by Franks) and a header by Franks off a corner kick by senior Constance Graham.
Taking advantage of the Warriors’ switch in goal for the second half, senior forward Sammie Sims netted back-to-back goals to put the Bulldogs ahead 5-1.
Wrestler, junior midfielder Hailey Merwin, Brown (penalty kick), and Franks then closed out the goal scoring.
Carl Junction improved to 2-0 on the season and the Bulldogs return home Tuesday for a match against Cassville.
McAuley Catholic dropped to 0-1 overall and the Warriors start a four-game road stretch of their schedule with Greenwood on Thursday.
