LISBON — Mt. Abram coach Darren Allen told the team to be ready from the start of the whistle. The Roadrunners just did that in a 7-0 MVC boys soccer victory over Lisbon on Thursday.
“This usually has been a house of horrors down here the last few years,” Allen said. “I told the boys we need to come down, ready to play, and we had a chance right off the kickoff. I told them we need to set the tone, and finally we got some goals.”
Mt. Abram (4-0) had six different goal-scorers and four players with a multi-point game.
“We are all team players, we all pass the ball, we are just a good team,” said Killian Pillsbury, who had a goal and two assists. “We aren’t selfish at all.”
Lisbon coach Shawn Rhoda had a simple Bill Belichick-type message to the inexperienced Greyhounds after the game.
“I just kind of used a quote from Bill Belichick: ‘We are moving on to the next one,'” Rhoda said. “I felt like it wasn’t the result we want, but they have a great team over there. We start five freshmen and two sophomores; if anything, we got a little bit better.”
The Roadrunners controlled the game at the start by getting a shot on Lisbon goalie Desean Trufant.
Six minutes into the opening half, Mt. Abram had a shot hit the post and two more blocked. On the fourth opportunity, Killian Pillsbury’s shot went top-shelf for a 1-0 lead. Morgan Thibodeau had the assist.
Getting Mt. Abram’s first goal of the game isn’t new for Pillsbury.
“He has opened the scoring the first four games,” Allen said. “He sets the tone for us. He has four goals this season; he’s just a finisher.”
Pillsbury said he wants to grab the early momentum for his team.
“We just need to start out strong,” Pillsbury said. “I am trying to do my part on the team and that what happens.”
Midway through the first half, Brennan Mitchell’s long-distance shot found the back of the net. Pillsbury had the assist.
Pillsbury said the team knew the goals were going to come in bunches.
“We were trying to put as much pressure on them and score early,” Pillsbury said.
In the 27th minute, Thibodeau got knocked down in the 18-yard box and was awarded a penalty kick, which he drilled past Trufant for a 3-0 advantage.
Sam Cockerham made it 4-0 for the Roadrunners later in the first half.
Lisbon (0-4) had two shots on goal in the first 10 minutes of the second half, but Logan Dube of Mt. Abram made the saves.
“We changed our philosophy a little bit,” Rhoda said. “Seven-to-nothing, one-to-nothing, to me, it’s all the same. We needed to try to relieve the pressure off the defense by putting pressure on their defense a little bit more. It’s about working hard.”
Jamie Hering extended the Roadrunners’ lead to 5-0 in the middle of the second half when his shot curled inside the right post.
Hering scored his second of the game when he put home a rebound from a Payton Mitchell shot.
“We have kids who can score goals,” Allen said. “…We have a plethora of kids who can score.”
Mitchell scored to stretch the lead to 7-0 later in the half.
“We start three freshmen on the back line, and going against Morgan (Thibodeau), Payton, a couple of those guys, that’s a tough task,” Rhoda said. “If they gained a little bit of knowledge and experience, it will pay off in the long run.”
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