MARION, ILL — The Perryville Pirates boys soccer team bounced back after two tough losses to take a 5-1 win over Marion on October 1.
In road trips to Jackson and Clayton, the Pirates gave up 14 goals and only scored once. Head coach Dwayne Hadler said he knew the two games were going to be tough given the level of competition, and he hoped his team was able to take away something positive despite the tough defeats.
“Jackson is always a tough 4A school,” Hadler said. “And then Clayton actually just beat [Christian Brothers College] in St. Louis, and CBC was ranked number one in the state in class four. So we need to take something away from that. Yeah, we got beat pretty good, but we were also competitive at times against them, so it kind of says something about where we are right now.”
In a bounce back win against Marion, four different Pirates scored in the 5-1 win.
Dezmen Hampson started the scoring in the 10th minute, with an assist from Michael Borden. Roman Koenig followed in the 23rd minute, also assisted by Borden. Hampson added his second goal of the game on a penalty kick in the 63rd minute. Trey Lukefahr found the back of the net in the 68th minute with an assist from Jesus Gutierrez, and Oliver Tucker scored the fifth Pirate goal in the 77th minute with an assist from Koenig.
“This was a true team game,” Hadler said. “We had scoring from four different people, assists by three different people and just all around, I felt like we kind of came together after those two losses. We kind of treated it like this is our chance to turn it around and make something of the season and go in the right direction. And they really responded well.”
Changes to the defensive setup helped in the win as well.
“We went from a three-back system to a four-back system not too long ago and made a few personnel changes,” Hadler said. “I think it’s just the comfort of the teammates playing beside one another. They’re starting to understand their roles and responsibilities and what their teammate does and how they cover for one another.”
The schedule does not get any easier for the Pirates, as they will be tested again on the road against Sikeston and Saxony Lutheran.
“Sikeston is playing very well this year, their record speaks for that, and we know they’re going to be tough,” Hadler said. “We saw them at the jamboree so we know a little bit about them. They’ll be a tough one. And Saxony is always a rivalry game, it’s always a fun game, both teams always fight hard, and then afterwards we shake hands and give hugs so that’s always a fun one. I don’t think we’re changing anything. We’re just kind of solidifying the things that we’ve changed recently and making just a little more comfort and cohesiveness among the players.”
Following the Sikeston and Saxony matches, which will both be at home, the Pirates finish the season with five of their final seven on the road.
