Sometimes, even a positive result can be a little less than perfect.
That's the feeling Perryville girls soccer coach Dwayne Hadler was faced with following the Lady Pirates' recent 8-0 home victory over Farmington.
After the game, Hadler said that even though the victory was shutout, he didn't feel like the team accomplished all they set out to do.
“It wasn't our best game,” Hadler said. “We played well enough to win. We changed our system a little bit this year and we're still adapting to that. A few aspects of that are still eluding us, but we're getting there.
“I have high expectations for this team. And yes, we won, but we didn't do the things that we're trying to accomplish to get there by the end of the season when it counts.”
One bright spot in the March 31 matchup was the play of junior midfielder Ava Ernst, who scored a hat trick against the Lady Knights, along with 2 assists in the match.
“Ava is playing well,” Hadler said. “She's adapting to the position a little bit — she is a little bit out of where she has played sometimes in the system. She's picking it up and doing well.”
Teammate Maysa Schnidler added another 2 goals and 2 assists, while Emma Blechle had a goal and an assist. LeeAnn King and Jewel Riney also scored for Perryville (2-2), and Madeline Gremaud had an assist.
Hadler said that he'd like to see a bit more patience from his team.
“Probably the biggest thing is our patience on the offensive third,” Hadler said. “We're trying to force the ball too much and being a little bit impatient when a few more passes would be better than going straight to goal.”
On the defensive side, freshman keeper Lillie Cowell earned the shutout and had an assist in the game. According to Hadler, this season is the first she's spent in goal.
“She's played soccer for years but has never really played goalie,” Hadler siad. “That was a position that was open for this year that we were looking to fill and here comes Lily.
She's just a good athlete. She's very calm. [Coach Matthew Spinner] has done a wonderful job. The fact that she's never played goalie and playing as well as she is right now is very special.
“Lily has accepted her role very well. she's only going to get better because the more experience she gets, the better she's going to be.”
Hadler said he is looking forward to the rest of the season, and seeing his team work to achieve the goals they've set.
“I'm looking forward to the season,” Hadler said. “We don't have a lot of numbers, but who we have is very talented. If we can all click together at the right time, we could have an exciting season.”
Perryville was scheduled to go on the road Monday to face Cape Central, then travel to Waterloo, Ill., on April 11.
