CHILLICOTHE — Last fall, it wasn’t until Sept. 11 when Chillicothe’s girls soccer program won its first game.
With a youth-laden roster, the Cavaliers lost their first seven contests before gritting out a win.
There will be no such wait this fall.
Thanks to an outstanding defensive performance and two opportunistic goals, Chillicothe started its season with a victory on Tuesday, handing Amanda-Clearcreek a 2-0 loss.
“We won the ball out of the air pretty well tonight, which always tilts the game in your direction,” Chillicothe coach Zach Breth said. “And we were composed. We don’t want to give the ball back in dangerous places and we did a good job of keeping it after winning it back.”
The Aces tested the Cavaliers’ defense early, sending multiple shots in Elaina Crall’s direction.
But the veteran keeper was there in each occurrence to parry any threat away.
Crall, who has started since her freshman year, ended the night with six saves to preserve the shutout.
“She’s a senior that’s played a lot of games,” Breth said of Crall. “We want to be better at distribution and keeping the ball out of the back, but as far as shot-stopping and being at the right place at the right time, she’s always there.”
The game’s first break went Chillicothe’s way.
With 16:09 remaining in the first half, senior Karlie Peters outraced Amanda’s defense to the goal, but when she sent a cross directly in front of the net, it was intercepted by an Ace.
Trying to get out of harm’s way, Amanda-Clearcreek tried to clear the ball. But instead, it ricocheted off a teammate and into the back of the net to put the Cavs ahead 1-0.
With how its defense was performing, that’s all Chillicothe needed.
But Peters splurged and purchased extra insurance late in the second half.
With just 5:10 remaining on the clock, senior Emma Slatton found Peters streaking past a defender. Peters took things from there, finding the upper right corner to make it a 2-0 count.
“We’ve got some pace up top and behind that, we have a lot of players that have athleticism and pace, but this is like game one for them,” Breth said. “We have players that just played their first real soccer game tonight. So there’s some combination play that they’re not quite certain with, and some spacing issues. But that’ll come in time.”
While the Aces search for their first win at Circleville on Wednesday evening, the Cavaliers will return to action on Aug. 31, traveling to Athens for non-league play.
“It’s good to be 1-0,” Breth said. “I think our girls feel like they should’ve scored more, and that shows that they had the confidence to score more. They don’t feel like they lucked out. That’s good to see.”
This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Defense key in Chillicothe’s season-opening win over Amanda-Clearcreek
