DELPHOS — St. John’s girls soccer coach Jodi Hoersten has been looking for her Lady Blue Jays to click.
Thursday night versus Shawnee was a step in the right direction.
The Jays scored three goals in a 26-minute span of the first half and went on to a 4-2 victory over the Lady Indians on the Annex pitch.
“To beat a storied soccer program like Shawnee is a big victory. We beat them last year, too,” Hoersten said. “We finally got that victory we’d been seeking; we’ve been close. Our on-field talking still wasn’t where we need it to be but our passing was awesome. Overall, we played an excellent game.”
There weren’t many shots-on-goal for either team: the Jays (4-5-1) had 11 and the Indians (4-4-2) eight.
“St. John’s dictated the tempo. They were winning the contested balls,” Shawnee coach Caroline O’Brien began. “(Tori) Recker gave us fits all night. We knew coming in she was their key player and told our defenders she had to be stopped. She got shots off inside and out and served balls to her teammates.”
The visitors made their first shot golden, at the 34:34 mark of the opening half. Sarah Silone took a midfield steal from the right to the left through the defense and her 15-yarder from the wing got past a diving Samantha Stant (6 saves) to the right side of the twine for an early 1-0 lead.
Back came the Jays with 29:44 showing, with a lot of pressure forcing a little bit of luck. It started with a floater from the right side of the 18 box by Bailey Calvelage. It nearly went over Shawnee netminder Ashley Brachok (3 saves vs. 7 shots); she deflected it into the field of play. Becca Saine followed but her shot was deflected to the left side by a defender, where Recker pooched one back to the other side with a lot of spin. A defender tried to clear it but instead put the orb in her own goal for a 1-1 tie.
Good shots were few and far between and the Jays had the next one, at 11:45. Recker’s shot from 20 yards on the left side curled just wide right.
At 6:12, the Blue and Gold went ahead. Recker got a look from 20 yards on the left side; Brachok deflected it to the opposite side, where Calvelage was for a putback and a 2-1 edge.
At 3:21, Recker did it all by herself with a gritty, not-to-be-denied effort. She fought for the ball and let loose from 8 yards along the left post. She slid it past the keeper inside the left post for a 3-1 edge.
Shawnee came out of halftime with more of a sense of urgency but the Jays didn’t back down.
The Indians cut the deficit to 3-2 at 26:06. Maegan Redick got behind the defense on a through ball from Brittney Hillman and her 14-yarder from the left side found the right side of the net.
The Jays replied three minutes later. Recker shook loose from the defense on the left wing and her 14-yarder found the right side past new keeper Samira Azeez (3 saves, 4 shots) for a 2-goal cushion.
“That is one thing that has been missing and we’ve talked a lot about it; feistiness. We didn’t have that sense of urgency for the ball,” Hoersten added. “Tonight, we did. We kept attacking and we didn’t sit on the lead. We’ve kept plugging away and it paid off tonight.”
The Jays host Miller City at 4:30 p.m. Monday.
“We have a lot of young, inexperienced girls and we didn’t have one of our starters, Emily Wolery,” O’Brien added. “At the same time, we have a number of girls that have been on varsity; they should have been able to do a better job of dictating tempo.”
Shawnee hosts WBL foe Wapakoneta Monday.