Albert Lea soccer girls overwhelm Faribault
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, October 5, 2004
There is no polite or gentle way to put it. The Faribault Falcons were overmatched, outplayed and badly beaten by the Albert Lea High School girls’ soccer team.
The Tigers rolled up 10 unanswered points &045; four in the first half and two in the first seven minutes of the second &045; to extend the Falcons’ losing streak and hand them their second-biggest loss of the season.
Stacie Armstrong opened up the scoring and picked up her second consecutive Saturday hat trick, the first two goals coming 21 seconds apart. Defender Jenny Birkhofer put two in the net, one off a rebounded corner kick and the other off a penalty kick from beyond the box. Kendra Olchefske scored her first varsity goal as a keeper, nicking in another Birkhofer corner kick. Seniors MaryBeth Cook and Katie Kjos and junior Annie Berger each notched their first varsity goal with sophomore Leah Walters inking her second.
&uot;One of our big successes this season has been the diversity of scoring,&uot; noted head coach Rick Barnhill. &uot;Twelve of the original sixteen players have scored at least one goal and the defense has scored almost a quarter of the total goals. Those are unheard-of statistics. The team has scored from every part of the offensive third and off of corner kicks, penalty kicks and throw-ins. In the last two weeks, the girls have outscored their opponents 20-7 and gone 3-2-1.
This makes it very difficult for opponents to predict where, when and how the Tigers are going to strike. Other teams are being forced to react, meet us on our terms and bend to our will.&uot;
The junior varsity girls were also successful, blowing out Faribault 14-0. Jackie Rehmke got the hat trick; Brittini Lair, Christine Staloch and Katie Whelan each picked up a pair and April Heilmann, Laura Hillman, Allie Leland, Elyce Rehmke and Anna Sigurdson each contributed a goal.
Like Olchefske, Hillman’s goal came as a keeper, heading in a corner kick. The C-Squad did not play.
&uot;There are only four games left before sectionals,&uot; observed Barnhill. &uot;We must use the time to become more consistent in our execution and more committed to our objectives. In less than two weeks, every team’s intensity ratchets up several notches for postseason play. We are seeing our system of play pay off and yet, we are still flying below everyone’s radar. This presents a great opportunity for the team to pull off upsets.&uot;
Parent’s night is Thursday at Hammer Field before the Austin game and Senior’s night is before the final regular-season home game against John Marshall Tuesday, Oct. 12. The Tigers feature six graduating seniors: Stacie Armstrong, Tessa Christensen, MaryBeth Cook, Katie Kjos, Kelly Schreiber and Christine Staloch.