JAY — Mt. Abram coach Andrew Delcourt knew the Roadrunners needed a halftime pep talk, even though they were leading by two goals.
The undefeated Roadrunners (5-0) picked up and they stopped bunching up, allowing them to score four more goals in the second half and race away with a 6-0 victory over Spruce Mountain in a Mountain Valley Conference girls soccer game Wednesday.
“I like the way we came off the bus, for sure,” Delcourt said. “I like the intensity they had early. Sloppy, sloppy play in the first half, which we need to fix. They came together in the second half after we talked about it. The other team played great and we are so thankful they hosted us.”
Junior Lily Day got Mt. Abram started with her first-half, unassisted goal. Senior captain Cassandra Hobbs followed with goal off a feed from Jaidyn Stuart, providing the Roadrunners with 2-0 lead.
The Phoenix (1-4) did their darndest to score in the first half, but Mt. Abram goalie Haley Bate stood her ground, making seven saves.
“Once we moved the ball around a little and made clean passes, we made the runs up the line,” Spruce Mountain coach Jake Turner said. “I think we started collectively to look well as a team. We had some tough teams we played earlier in the schedule. So we are hoping to improve and get better at the end of the season. We have 15 girls right now — a young team, a lot freshmen. So we are trying; we are getting there.”
Delcourt’s fireside chat stuck with the Roadrunners as they tallied four more goals after halftime.
The Phoenix were called for a penalty after Roadrunners senior captain Emily Kidd was sandwiched by two players. Kidd stepped to the lined drilled her penalty shot past Spruce goalie Emma Towers, who stopped seven Mt. Abram shots.
“I think we have much better performances, but hopefully in the future we can step it up and play a little better, like we can,” Kidd said. “I think we spread out more (in the second half). We were not spreading out in the first half, whatsoever. In the second half, we were definitely spreading out more and playing positions better.
“I felt like I played awful, but hopefully I can change that on Friday.”
Junior Charlotte Mitchell kicked in an unassisted goal and Julie Wells took a Hobbs assist and scored to put the Roadrunners in control, 5-0.
Mackenzie Contreras capped Mt. Abram’s scoring with her goal in the middle of the second half after connecting with Autumn Pullk.
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