The defense that has been a mainstay of the Republic Lady Tigers faltered in a 4-2 loss to Willard Tuesday. The four runs allowed were the most of the season for Republic, which had only given up three goals in one previous game, a 3-2 loss to Jefferson City.
“This is really disappointing. I feel like this is a game that we should have won,” said coach Kevin Hauck. “just lack of focus and not a good performance from us tonight.”
Hannah Lease scored both of Republic’s goals. The first one tied the game 1-1 after Willard had scored first. After Willard scored two goals in the final two minutes of the first half, Lease scored again in the second half to cut the lead to 3-2, but that was as close as Republic would get.
Willard put the game away with a goal in the 72nd minute to take a 4-2 lead.
Hauck said his team seemed to have trouble controlling the ball all night. “Our touch was not good tonight. We had trouble making the easy pass. We had trouble settling the easy pass.”
And Hauck said Republic’s defense, which had allowed just one goal in the past five games, also struggled to do some of the things that have made it so successful before Tuesday. “Our rotation defensively was off in the midfield,” Hauck said. “We weren’t rotating quick enough to help each other defensively like we’ve been early on.
“It’s a disappointment because we had been playing so well up to this point. Hopefully we can take this as a learning experience and we can refocus for the remainder of the season and finish on a strong note.”
Farr Better Player of the Game
Hannah Lease provided Republic’s only offense, scoring two goals. The first one tied the game in the first half, and the second one gave Republic new life in the second half after they’d fallen behind 3-1 at halftime. For her effort, she’s our Farr Better Player of the Game.
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