Rolla rolled into Republic and spoiled the Lady Tigers’ soccer season opener in a 4-0 decision Tuesday night. The Bulldogs scored three goals against a tentative Republic defense in the first half, but the Lady Tigers buckled down after the halftime break.
The game marked the debut of head coach Kevin Hauck, who says he saw improvement as the game wore on.
“The first half, I felt like they kind of with the mindset of ‘Hey, Rolla beat us 4-1 last year. I don’t know if we can stay with them.’ We talked about that at halftime. We have to have the mindset that we can compete with teams that are at a high level so we can be a high-level team, too,” Hauck says. “We have to start coming out and playing harder, and I feel like the second half, we did that. We were aggressive. We put pressure on them. I thought we looked much more comfortable and we played a lot harder.”
While Republic was playing its first game of the season, Rolla was playing its fourth game. They hosted a tournament last weekend. Hauck says that also was a factor in the Lady Tigers’ slow start.
“Four or five games into the season, you figure out your true identity. Rolla’s played three games and this was our first game. They’re starting to figure out what they’re good at and we’re still trying to learn that,” he says.
Hauck says defensive adjustments at halftime helped the Lady Tigers play better in the second half. He also liked what he saw from goalkeeper Jessica Laster, who was under assault for much of the night, especially in the first half.
“(Rolla) easily could have had a couple more. They put her in some 1-on-1 opportunities and she came up big. She’s a very good goalie with everything hit on the ground and she’s coming strong on 1-on-1 opportunities,” Hauck says. “The one thing we’ll continue to work with her on is anything in the air. Her height definitely doesn’t help her with that, but she’s learning new things and it’s putting her in some different positions, but I’m very pleased with the way she played.”
Republic falls to 0-1. Rolla is 2-1-1. The Lady Tigers travel to Rogersville on Thursday.
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