BATH — Lisbon tallied four unanswered goals to pull away for a 4-1 victory over Hyde in Mountain Valley Conference girls’ soccer action Thursday.
The Greyhounds won their fourth consecutive game, improving to 8-3-1, while Hyde fell to 4-7.
With Hyde playing in the MVC for the first time this season, neither team knew what to expect from one another.
“I truly didn’t know what to expect,” Lisbon coach Jenniffer Perron said. “We see other opponents we don’t know what to expect and we just have to come out here and play our game. They were quick and have some speed.”
Hyde broke the ice first when freshman Lily Huettel took a pass from Ingrid Schroeter and beat Lisbon goalie Sarah Haggerty for the score five minutes in.
It didn’t take long for the visitors to answer, as Sophia DiGregorio found Giana Russo for the equalizer three minutes later.
At 25:54, senior Carly Drischler took a kick from 25-yards out and put it up over the outstretched hands of Hyde keeper Teal McLane for the go-ahead score and a 2-1 lead.
Once again, Lisbon found the back of the net as a result of good communication and making the right passes. With just under 18 minutes left, Kiley Merritt slipped a pass to Destiney Deschaines for the Greyhounds third goal of the first half.
“We’re working with the communication on the field and passing,” Perron said. “We’re really working on our passing game because sometimes we just send the ball with no purpose. It’s definitely showing with ‘passing with a purpose’ and good communication.”
“We came into this game not knowing how they played, and I think our big thing was we communicated pretty well,” Merritt said.
Merritt nearly had a breakaway for a shot attempt late in the first half, but it was denied by Hyde’s Rachel Willey just outside of the 18-yard line.
“I was happy with our defense today, Lisbon is a good team. They are one of the most composed teams we’ve played,” Hyde coach Matt Newberg said. “They really attempt to keep the ball on the ground and work the ball around. They have very good skill players and their keeper was solid.”
The score remained 3-1 into the break as the visitors outshot Hyde 8-3.
Although Lisbon continued to put shots on goal, the score remained 3-1 midway through the half. A near-goal for the Greyhounds happened when Drischler took a corner kick and booted it to the front of the net. When the ball bounced back out to her, she attempted a long kick that went just wide of the net.
Hyde almost cut the deficit to one goal when Huettel and Schroeter hooked up again, but an offsides call negated the score.
At 19:05, in the midst of her 11 saves in the second half, McLane was unable to handle a Russo shot and Merritt was there for the rebound.
“I’ve been ready to score all game,” Merritt said. “I’ve been waiting for the passes and finally I got my chance and I kicked it in.”
Despite the four goals, Newberg was pleased with McLane’s 16-save performance.
“She has her moments where she makes sound decisions, but she’s still learning to keep her focus,” Newberg said. “She took on a lot of shots today.”
Her counterpart in the Lisbon goal, Haggerty, also did her part to contribute to the win. The sophomore keeper made five saves after the initial goal.
“She came in very inexperienced, soccer-wise, at the beginning of the season, but her determination and her ‘want’ to learn has progressed her skills along,” Perron said. “She’s like a sponge that takes it all in. She’s making good decisions, and that helps with our success.”
Hyde is looking to make a run in the Class D south playoffs beginning later this month, but Newberg sees some tough competition ahead.
“Our last three games are tough against Class C teams,” adds Newberg. “We will need to play our best soccer.”
Hyde will play a friendly match with Morse Friday, then travel to Hall-Dale on Monday and close out the regular season with Mt. Abram and Monmouth.
Lisbon, meanwhile, will continue to climb up the Class C South Heal points with Thursday’s win and has hopes for hosting a playoff game.
“Yes that’s the goal, but we’re taking them one game at a time,” Perron said.
Lisbon hosts Madison on Wednesday before closing out the regular season with a game at Mountain Valley on Oct. 12.
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