Mansfield Christian Flames win wild goal fest over Crestview Cougars
· Yahoo Sports
OLIVESBURG — Mansfield Christian girls soccer coach Jesse Rider wants to bottle up his team’s performance in the first 16.5 minutes of its 6-4 win over Crestview.
The other 63.5, not so much.
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It took the Flames 16:29 to build a commanding 5-0 lead over their Mid-Buckeye Conference rivals when Marlea Rader, Harper Bechtler, Natalie Ricker, Brooklyn Rider and Teanna Elliot all scored one goal apiece in one of the most highly anticipated small-school soccer games in Richland County this season. The Flames controlled every second of that 16:29 and looked like a squad ready to put up a running-clock score.
Then, the Cougars took advantage of a complacent Mansfield Christian and scored two goals, one apiece from Shelby Bays and Lindsey Bright, to take the momentum back and into the second half. After Ricker added her second goal of the night to make it 6-2, Bright and Bays added one more goal apiece to make it 6-4 and gave the Cougars a 4-1 advantage after falling behind 5-0 early.
“I think it was a little bit of everything,” Rider said. “They got into a mentality of, ‘Hey, we are good to go, and we don’t have to defend or keep the ball or anything’ and that changed the dynamic of the game. We are young and we are learning that we have to play a full 80 minutes and 35 minutes is not sufficient enough.”
Crestview’s acting head coach Ashley Pirc, who was standing in for Elizabeth Webb who was having surgery the night of the game, was proud of the way the Cougars responded after being popped in the mouth right out of the gate.
“I told them after the game that I was so proud of them because we have been consistently fighting every time we are on the field,” Pirc said. “We never give up. That was a rough start against a really great team like Mansfield Christian. They controlled the middle very well and exploited our weakness, but we continued to communicate and work together and that second half, they stepped up.”
It was a response that showed the program’s growth. In a 7-1 loss to Mansfield Christian last season, the Cougars packed it in when they got down big. This time, they fought back and made a game of it.
“I love it,” Pirc said. “I love these girls so much and their growth is amazing. They come to practice and work hard and do things outside of practice and games building our chemistry. They impress me so much and I am so proud.”
The Flames were thankful for the 5-0 cushion.
“It was for sure,” Ricker said. “We came in here ready to win and ready to prove ourselves. We wanted to win and prove we deserved to.
“I think we got a little too comfortable and were trying to conserve too much energy. It was key for us to keep encouraging each other and keeping everyone involved. It was teamwork all the way.”
The hot start showed what the Flames are capable of and if they put it together for a full 80 minutes, they can be a very dangerous team.
“With this group, we know that we can be really good if we play up to our expectations,” Rider said. “We just have to learn to be consistent. There are moments where we looked really good and ones where we didn’t. We have so many capable scorers and it is weird to say after scoring six, but we have to be more consistent.”
The Flames improve to 5-2-1 and travel to Western Reserve Academy on Sept. 17 while Crestview falls to 7-2-2 and travels to Firelands on Sept. 19.
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Mansfield Christian Flames win wild goal fest over Crestview Cougars