JAMESTOWN — After more than a week off, the Greeneview (9-3) girls soccer team looked sharp against the visiting Dayton Christian Warriors (4-7-1). The Rams scored three goals in six minutes on their way to a 3-0 shutout, Thursday night at Don Nock Field.
After the long break, Greeneview coach Shawn Brown said he was worried about his team coming out flat. But the Rams were moving the ball and getting good shots off at the Dayton Christian goal early. They outshot the Warriors 14-3 in the first half.
“One of the things that we always try to do is set the pace of the game. We want to set it at our pace. That’s what we did,” said Brown. “We had a lot of opportunities before we started scoring those goals, but we finally started finishing. And whenever they score a goal, they like to pour it on and keep scoring.”
Hailee Brown was the first Ram to break through and score. Kayli Vipperman took a shot at the goal that was blocked by Dayton Christian keeper Kayla Landis. Brown got to the rebound first and put it in the net with 7:34 left in the first half.
Just over four minutes later, Olivia Maxwell received a pass from Sydnie Sonneman and took a shot from about 25 yards out. Landis got her hands on the ball, but it slipped through and bounced into the net.
With 1:18 remaining in the half, Brown scored her second goal. She was driving to the right and hooked a shot by Landis to stick the ball in the back left corner.
Landis finished the game with eight saves, but the Rams overwhelmed the Warriors, taking 22 shots in the match.
The conditions were windy for the match, but it didn’t seem to bother either team much. Brown said he picked to have the wind at Greeneview’s back for the first half.
“I wanted the wind in the first half. We wanted to take it in the first half and see if we could score and get up on them. And we played solid defense in the second half.”
The Rams held firm in the second half, although Dayton Christian took more shots at the goal with the wind at its back. The Warriors had eight shots in the second half and only three in the first. Greeneview keeper Brooke Eakle had seven saves in the match.
With four games left in the season, Brown said he feels his team is playing its best ball of the season. The Rams have a tough task up next. They head to Cincinnati Lehman Catholic High School to take on the Cavaliers at 4 p.m. Saturday.
“I’m excited. We’re playing our best soccer right now. We’re peaking at the right time, and we want to keep it going right into the playoffs,” said Brown.
Lehman Catholic is ranked fourth in the state.
