It’s been an up-and-down month so far for the Perryville Lady Pirates soccer team.
After finishing with an 8-0 victory over Farmington on March 31 that left coach Dwayne Hadler considering changes to his team’s system, the Lady Pirates (4-3) edged Cape Central 2-1, then wrapped up a rain-delayed game that began April 3 with another 8-0 shutout, this time over Farmington. On Friday, Perryville lost to Waterloo, Ill., 5-1.
“It was a rough night,” Hadler said. “They were a very good team. They were very organized, and moved the ball extremely well. We didn’t play that well.”
In addition to facing a good, unfamiliar team, the Lady Pirates also had a bit of bad luck.
“We had a couple of injuries,” Hadler said. “We had one before the game that changed the game completely. One of our starters got hurt and that really changed everything that we did. I think we were a little shell-shocked from that, in addition to Waterloo just being a good team. Then we had another injury to a key player, and that pretty much made it more difficult for us.”
Junior midfielder Ava Ernst scored Perryville’s lone goal in the game, putting her at nine total for the season.
On April 9, Perryville finished their game with Fredericktown, knocking out an 8-0 victory.
We’ve been working on some very specific things with our rotations in the offensive third of the field and we did it today,” Hadler said after the game. “It’s really exciting because that’s our future. That’s what we want to work on the rest of the season.”
In the final tally, Ernst led Perryville with 3 goals and 2 assists, Brynn Wibbenmeyer had 2 goals, Emma Blechle had 1 goal and 3 assists, Maysa Schnidler had 1 goal and 1 assist, Caroline Gremaud had 1 goal and Irma Raymundo had 1 assist. Freshman keeper Lilly Cowell had the shutout.
“It was good to see Brynn get on the board with a couple of goals,” Hadler said. “Emma also had a good game and Caroline Gremaud had her typical strong defensive showing and added her first goal of the season.”
Hadler also had praise for the rest of the team.
“Our backs, Caroline and [Reese Behrle] and [LeeAnn King] did a great job,” Hadler said. “We ask them to do a lot offensively when we have possession. Not only did they stop any attacks, they got involved and helped. It was really good to see those things.”
Hadler summed up his feelings about the game in just a few words.
“I’m happy,” he said. “The things that we’ve been working on we’re starting to see, so the future is very bright for the next few games.”
On April 7, the Lady Pirates slipped past Cape Central, winning 2-1. Ernst finished the game with a goal and an assist, Schindler had a goal and Jewel Riney finished with an assist.
The victory came after Hadler made some adjustments on the way to the game.
“I actually changed our system and personnel and a lot of things,” Hadler said. “It was a non-conference game, so I thought that was a good opportunity to find out what we can do with a different system. We changed on the way down.
It took a bit for those changes to set in, Hadler said.
“The first half was a little rough,” Hadler said. “They scored one on a set play, a corner kick, and we couldn't finish and score. Then in the second half, the system started to come together. We started playing better and then we scored two goals and I don’t know how many shots we had, but it was a lot. We just couldn't put it in the net, but the second half was much, much, much better.”
Asked about the second half of April — especially in light of those key injuries, Hadler tried to stay positive.
“I'm hopeful,” he said.
Perryville was scheduled to host Villa Duschesne (4-2-1) on Tuesday.
