The Perryville Pirates are finding their stride at the right time.
Perryville put together a pair of convincing victories in its last two matches, defeating Festus 8-0 on Sept. 15 before returning home two days later to knock off Hillsboro 5-2 at The Bank of Missouri Soccer Complex in Perryville.
The two wins pushed the Pirates to 7-2 on the season and continued an offensive surge that has seen Perryville score 30 goals while allowing just 15 through nine matches.
Head coach Dwayne Hadler said the Pirates are beginning to see the results of adjustments made earlier in the season.
“Changing our formation, our system. The last piece of the puzzle is putting the ball in the net and scoring, and it seems like that’s starting to happen,” Hadler said. “We’re starting to figure out our patterns of play and moving the ball at the right place at the right time.”
That was particularly evident in the 8-0 victory over Festus, when Perryville’s attack continued to generate opportunities and the defense recorded another shutout.
The Pirates followed that performance with a 5-2 victory over Hillsboro Thursday, Sept. 17.
Perryville’s scoring has become increasingly balanced, with several players contributing throughout the season.
Dez Hampson remains the team’s leading scorer, with 12 goals and 3 assists for 27 points through nine games. Oliver Tucker has 5 goals and 4 assists for 14 points, while Michael Borden has 5 goals and 2 assists for 12 points, matching Roman Koenig.
Hampson, Koenig, Tucker and Borden were among the Pirates’ offensive contributors during the two-game stretch.
“Dez is our leading scorer, for sure,” Hadler said. “He’s one of our target players, but it’s nice to see the underclassmen like Roman Koenig and Ollie Tucker and Michael Borden starting to put some goals in, too.”
While Tucker has developed into a consistent scoring threat, Hadler pointed to his ability to create opportunities for teammates.
“Ollie’s more of our playmaker than the guy that scores,” Hadler said. “He’s more the assist guy that kind of puts us in that position to score more often than not.”
Trey Lukefahr has been especially productive in that role, leading the team with 6 assists. Lane Yamnitz has 4 assists, as does Tucker. Carter Park has 2.
The Pirates’ offensive balance has helped take pressure off any one player while giving Perryville multiple ways to attack.
Hadler said the team is becoming more comfortable with one another, particularly in the midfield.
“They’re getting more comfortable with one another, where they’re supposed to be and where their teammates are supposed to be,” he said.
Defensively, Noah Blythe has started all nine games in goal, playing 720 minutes. He has 7 wins and 2 losses with 10 goals allowed, an average of 1.11 goals per game.
The two-game stretch also continued what has been a strong September for the Pirates. Perryville entered the Hillsboro game at 6-2 after the 8-0 victory over Festus and has now moved to 7-2.
For a young Perryville squad, the improvement is encouraging.
“We’re a fairly young team,” Hadler said. “Got a lot of players that don’t have a lot of varsity experience until this year. So you can see that we’re starting to figure some things out. They’re getting more comfortable and it’s going to be a fun ride.”
