Breakaways cost Creston

It didn’t take long for Denison-Schleswig to get on the board against the Creston girls soccer team Thursday as the Monarchs tallied their first goal inside of the game’s first minute.

Denison-Schleswig went onto to defeat Creston 7-1, but the Panthers responded quickly to the opening goal.

With the wind blowing into their face, the Panthers responded the the Monarchs’ early scoring opportunities with a handful of their own as Rachel Wignall and Karmen Chuong each registered a shot in the 15th and 16th minute, respectively.

But for every Panther chance, came an equal and more opportune chance for Denison-Schleswig as Monarch attackers continued to find themselves behind Creston’s defense.

D-S’s Sandibel Sandoval found Alex Mohr on a through ball that Mohr buried in the corner in the 21st minute for the first of her four goals.

“She’s a solid player,” said Lauffer of Mohr.

Mohr added two more scores over the next 13 minutes of gameplay.

“I think in the beginning we were trying to figure out how to be cohesive. Like I said in the last game that was really what our struggle was, but we figured it out,” said head coach Kim Lauffer. “Then it was figuring out how to stay cohesive.”

Breakaway goals accounted for most of the Monarchs offense on the night.

Creston’s goalies, its final line of defense, bailed out the Panthers on occasion as both Lexi Rounds and Madison McCoubrey stopped Monarch attackers on the break.

Creston fell behind 7-0 before Bree Ross broke through off of a corner kick. The corner was fed in by Grace Root, which Kalan Bloodgood headed it toward Ross who scored the lone Panther goal.

Chuong had another good look for the Panthers in the second half on an odd-man rush, but her shot kicked off the left post and back into play where the Monarch goalie swiped it up.

“I feel like we had a lot of opportunities we just couldn’t finish,” said Lauffer of all the Creston opportunities. Creston ended the game with 11 shots on goal.

UP NEXT – Creston (0-4) will travel to Harlan today (Friday) to take on the Cyclones.

Creston (1) – Bree Ross, 87th minute. Shots (on goal) – Karmen Chuong 6 (5), Kalan Bloodgood 5 (4), Bree Ross 1 (1), Rachel Wignall 1 (1), Jessica Arevalo 1 (0). Keeper saves – Madison McCoubrey 9, Lexi Rounds 3.