On Wednesday night, the Springstead Eagles (2-1-1) downed the Weeki Wachee Hornets (1-2) by a score of 8-0 at the Eagles’ Nest. Both teams came in with a win and a loss, but the Green and Black ran into a senior-laden buzzsaw in this mid-November matchup. The Eagles jumped ahead early and overwhelmed the Hornets in a hurry. Eagles Head Coach Sarah Bell was pleased with the result, especially considering what it means for the upperclassmen on her squad.
“Coming out, this is our first home game,” Coach Bell said. “So, it was good to come out with a win. A lot of these girls – I have nine seniors on this team. So, it was really great to see them all out there playing their last first home game.”
Fans barely had a chance to find their seats before the home team put up the first of many scores. A mere 38 seconds into the contest, Junior Lily Isaksen passed the ball from the corner to a waiting Junior Lauren Anderson for the opening goal. Less than a minute later, the Eagles struck again by way of a Senior Ava Kanaar goal – her first of three on the evening.
After Kanaar logged her second goal roughly 10 minutes into the matchup, Senior Alisha Soults scored a pair of goals in quick succession shortly thereafter. The first was off a pass from Senior Riley Bradley from the corner and the other came by way of an Anderson pass in front of the goal with 24:49 left in the half. Minutes later, Ava Kanaar took a pass from Soults midway through the initial frame to complete the hat trick directly before the water break.
“Ava’s definitely a team captain here,” said the Eagles coach. “She’s always been a phenomenal player. Her stats speak for herself, but this year, she’s really stepped up the leadership responsibilities for the team, helping out just with her communication and keeping the team positive. So, it’s been great to see her grow in that role.”
After the breather, Weeki Wachee began to settle in defensively. For nearly the next 15 minutes of game time, they held the Eagles in check. Then, with 5:20 left in the half, Senior Sidney Anderson snuck the ball just inside the top left corner of the goal past the outstretched hands of the goaltender. The lead had already ballooned to an ultimately insurmountable 6-0, but Springstead’s seventh goal put the Hornets in danger of being mercy-ruled if they allowed one more.
Two and a half minutes later, that is exactly what happened. Sophomore Aylani Vazquez put the nail in the coffin and the referees called the game seconds later. If the 8-0 score or being mercy-ruled before halftime did not demonstrate just how dominant the Eagles were; the Hornets also failed to log more than two extremely brief possessions on Springstead’s side of the field by the water break 20 minutes into the contest.
Looking ahead to their next matchup, the Hornets will look to get back on track versus the Central Bears (0-3) on Nov. 27. The Eagles will look to work on “moving the ball, switching fields around, and just really utilizing all the talent that we have” in their second of six straight home games. Coach Bell and company will host the East Ridge Knights (2-0) in two weeks on Nov. 28.
“I’ve been blessed with a lot of very talented players,” Coach Bell said. “I have two seniors that are already signed to go to D1 schools. So, it’s just great having such talent on the team. So, working on just the stuff we do and perfecting it.”
