Six different Lady Tigers scored as Republic improved to 5-1 with a 9-0 victory over Joplin McAuley on the road Friday. Sara Marcotte had a hat trick and Jocelyn Carpenter added two goals to power the Lady Tigers’ offense.
Republic Tiger Sports girls soccer coverage is sponsored by Team Wear Solutions! Click the link to find out how they can help with your uniform needs.
Emily Griffith, Emily Jordan, Sierra Casagrand, and Lesleigh Fenton each added single goals for the Lady Tigers. Casagrand had three assists, Jordan had two, and Ashley Brown added one. Coach Mike Hines says getting so many players involved in the offense is good for the team in the long run. (See video of two goals, including a header by Carpenter, below.)
“I think it’s a confidence builder for some folks who’ve never put the ball in the back of the net to have that occur, so when they get an opportunity again, they’ll feel like ‘I’ve done it before,’ and they be able to put the ball away,” Hines says. “When you start playing some dynamic teams that we have coming on the schedule…you need to have multiple weapons. Everybody is focused on 24 (Marcotte) and 9 (Casagrand), so to have those other options makes us a better team.”
Republic scored five goals before halftime, then pushed the lead to 9-0 with about 15 minutes remaining. Rather than pushing for a final score to end the game, the Lady Tigers focused on ball control and improving certain aspects of their game.
“We’ve had some moments we could improve on, and that’s what we worked on today. We actually took some things from practice, and we can see it applied in a game,” Hines says. “The last 15 minutes probably made me most proud, and we didn’t even score. But we probably put together 20 to 30 passes a couple of times, and they start to see how the ball doesn’t always have to go forward, and you use the drop and the overlapping runs and things like that. When those start to become habit, it only makes us better and more competitive.”
The win improves Republic’s record to 5-1 overall. Is Hines pleased with the way the team is playing?
“You can’t complain when you’re 5-1,” he says. “If you are, you’re being too picky.”
