Practice makes perfect.
Independence’s girls’ soccer team has worked hard on increasing the number of crossed balls during each match and on Saturday it paid off as the Blue Devils topped visiting Columbia, 2-1.
“We actually played some good soccer today,” said Independence coach Bryan Less. “We’ve been working on two things in training, which is possession and getting the ball wide and then back in. That’s how both goals were scored today. Both were assisted and both were on crosses.”
Columbia took a 1-0 lead midway through the first half but freshman Makenna McGhee tied it five minutes later off an assist from Riccela DiGeronimo.
Senior Jasmine Harb finished off an assist from Marissa Silvestro late in the first half to give Independence the lead for good.
“They both were well run soccer plays,” Less said of the goals. “I’ve been telling them we’ve got to get a lot of crosses and we probably had 10-15 of them. We put two away and played good outside-inside soccer.”
Independence nearly added to its lead in the second half but the Blue Devils left several shots wide.
“We had some real good opportunities in the second half but we couldn’t put them away to seal the game,” Less said. “We ran good offense and the passing helped. They were just worn down in the second half because we forced Columbia to chase us.”
Reni Kaiser recorded 10 saves in the win.
“The defense had one let down where we gave up an open shot and that’s when they scored,” Less said. “Reni did a real nice job of staying home. She had 10 saves but most of them were pretty easy. They were from 25-yard shots right at her because the defense did a nice job of staying tight and not giving up close shots.”
Erin Zygmunt and Lauren St. Andrew both drew praise from their coach for their efforts in the match.
“Erin Zygmunt did a nice job in the center-mid. She was pretty sick but came through with some good minutes,” Less said. “Lauren St. Andrew also did a nice job. She played the entire second half at center back even though she never played there before. She did a nice job there.”
Independence improved to 3-2-1 on the year. The Blue Devils host Beachwood on Sept. 14.
