One of the state’s best teams blitzed Republic with a barrage of first half goals as Glendale cruised to a 6-0 win over the Lady Tigers in Republic Thursday. The Falcons, who have several players committed to play college soccer, scored about six minutes into the game. They added a second goal just a minute later. About nine minutes into the game, they added goal number three. Their fourth goal came with about nine minutes remaining in the first half, and they scored number five just before halftime.
But coach Mike Hines says the loss was not necessarily a bad thing for the team.
“(Glendale) is a quality program, and we needed to play this game,” says Hines. “It was 5-0 at half. We fought. We battled. I had four girls at one time out there that had never played soccer before, so let’s put this in perspective. But they never quit.”
Hines says his team took the opportunity to learn from a higher-caliber opponent before the game had even ended.
“We took a poll at halftime and I think we had six girls who played against Nixa and Glendale last year, out of the varsity roster,” says Hines. ” Molly Carter said ‘I learned more in the first half than I have in the first five games.'”
And despite the difficult first half, Hines says he was proud of how his players responded at halftime and in the second half.
“In the past, we’ve had moments where teams would come off the field and start pointing fingers at each other, and none of that occurred,” he says. “That didn’t happen, so this is definitely something that we can build on.”