The Perryville boys soccer team opened its season with 2-0 victory over Sullivan Saturday morning.
The first of the two goals was scored late in the first half by Dezmen Hampson, with an assist from Trey Lukefahr. The second was scored late in the second half by Joseph Casas, with an assist from Oliver Tucker.
Head coach Dwayne Hadler said there were still some early season jitters to be worked through, but the team showed a lot of potential for the season ahead.
“You can tell it was an early game,” Hadler said. “We weren’t showing a lot of cohesiveness in the attack. We created a lot of chances, but couldn’t put them away. They were a very defensively organized team, and they kept a bunch of people back behind the ball at all times. And it was difficult to break them down. We had to be a little more patient.”
The Sullivan defense was tough to break through against, even once the Perryville offense started to find their form.
“Once we got one, then we really started creating,” Hadler said. “But their keeper just stood on his head and played a great game.”
Hadler said he was happy with how his defense handled the Sullivan attack, praising his midfield and defenders, as well as goalkeeper Noah Blythe, who got his first clean sheet of the new season.
“Our midfield did an awesome job of just constantly winning 50-50 balls in the middle of the field and not allowing a lot of attacks,” Hadler said. “When they did attack, our backs did a great job defending because our keeper only had, I think, two or three saves the whole game. They were very aggressive, they stepped to the ball, won 50-50 balls and basically prevented Sullivan from making many attacks at all.”
Four road games are coming up for the Pirates before they return home on September 11 to host Southern Boone.
