The Hamilton girls’ soccer team picked up two wins over valley rivals over the weekend. They defeated Stevensville, 7-2, on Thursday, and then topped Corvallis, 3-1, on Saturday.
The game against Stevensville was closer than the score indicated according to Hamilton coach Gregg Shifflett. He credited Stevensville with playing very aggressive defense.
“They are being physical which is probably what I would do if I were Stevi. Our girls just didn’t respond.”
Stevensville played the Hamilton team very closely in the first half and was but couldn’t make the adjustments to the Bronc offense in the second half. Shifflet said his team started making quicker passes and playing more aggressive on defense.
Casey Shifflett had one goal and two assists for Hamilton. Bri Huggins scored the first goal and last goal for Hamilton. She also had an assist. Also scoring for Hamilton were Erin Loranger, Jill Toews and Karissa Psantz.
Coach Kevin Hagen said his team had a good effort on the pitch against Hamilton. Even though a couple of players received some minor injuries, he felt they would be back to full strength this week. Brooke Constantino scored both the goals for the Yellowjackets, with Sylvie Coston having an assist on the last goal.
Hamilton took 16 shots on goal while Stevensville had five shots. Marina McGourty had three saves for Hamilton. Andrea Morowic had eight saves and Hannah Dishman had one save for Stevensville.
Hamilton scored all three of their goals against Corvallis in the first half. Huggins, Shifflett and Sami Kratofil each had a goal. Jill Toews had assists for Huggins and Shifflett while Huggins had the assist for Kratofil. Hamilton took 19 shots on goal and McGourty had four saves.
Corvallis’ Ayden Eickhoff took a Katie Landis pass and converted it to a goal late in the second half. They took 12 shots on goal. Roxy Rademacher had 14 saves for the Blue Devils.
Stevensville got on the board first in their game against Hamilton but then Dayce Moerkerke and company went to town for the Broncs with the result of a 4-1 Southwest A conference victory. Moerkerke had two goals in the first half before going down with an injury.
“It was the same score as the last time,” said Hamilton coach Randy Lint. “The difference this game is we scored in the second half. We had a good second half.”
Lint went on to say he was proud of how his team played and especially Moerkerke. “He sure played great and I was really proud of his leadership.”
Colin Kanenwisher and Tanner Crossman also scored for the Broncs. Keeper Niall Clancy had seven saves. Hamilton took 20 shots on goal.
Stevensville played tough but made a few mental mistakes that were difficult to overcome according to coach Ralph Serrette. “The kids fought hard and played as a team.”
Jake Giese scored Stevensville’s lone goal. J.J. O’Bannon had 12 saves for the ‘Jackets. Stevensville had 11 shots on goal.