Girard stopped by high-powered Poland offense
Trending
GIRARD -- Perhaps the most effective defense on the soccer pitch is a swift and high-scoring offensive attack. For Poland, truer words couldn't have been written following an 11-0 rout of Girard Wednesday evening at Arrowhead Stadium.
It's the third clean sheet in as many matches for the Bulldogs, who also blanked South Range 4-0, and Jefferson 10-0. August may have come to a quick conclusion, but Poland has an early edge in the Northeast-8 standings.
"I thought we played well today, I thought we weren't crisp, we need to improve, there's a lot to improve on," commented Poland coach Neil Huda "I think the (season-opening) Canfield loss really was an eye opener for the girls, and I think they're getting better.
"If we can keep possession and get the ball through then we should be alright."
Poland sophomore Ava Blinsky had the scoreboard operator working early, netting her first score from about 15-yards out at the 34:26 mark during the first half. Just a few moments later, she sunk another after finding space in midfield.
"Our work of play, us passing the ball, our chemistry we've been doing better at that recently," said Blinsky, scoring multiple times from distance. "I practice those a lot, since I play mid, that's usually where I am to hit those. It's really important, we all need to work together at doing that, it contributes a lot."
Girard goalkeeper Marina Cella had to make an early exit due an injury with the Indians down 2-0. An already thinned-out Girard roster had to play with multiple seniors out. Off a corner kick, senior Kailyn Assion knocked one in directly in front of the net, not even a minute later, sophomore Sophia Generalovich joined in on the scoring action, giving Poland (3-1) a 4-0 edge into halftime.
"Just keeping the pressure on and keeping space out and hitting the through balls," Generalovich pointed out as key areas for success over a NE-8 rival. "Just by being able to playback and see the field and open it up, knowing how our outside wings and forwards play.
"Just our chemistry overall, we go to practice, we try to work hard, we try to get along as best we can, it's all about the chemistry."
When the dust settled, Blinsky concluded her evening with a career-high four goals.
"She played well, I was happy for her," Huda said. "She broke out and I think that she should have more of that. More of those two or three goal games this season. We got girls that can put it in from midfield up, so it does help. Set pieces are good for us, the girl's legs are great."
Freshman Eliana Thompson added a late hat trick all within the final 16 minutes of the match. Senior Ariana Daniels and sophomore Samantha Masucci each added a goal to round out scoring totals. Freshman Dulci DiGregorio led the Bulldogs with a pair of assists.
After starting the season with a 12-0 victory over rival Liberty, the Indians have tallied one goal during their last four matches. Having to guide her team through the injury bug, Girard (2-3) coach Seyla Perez expected more.
"Today we just kinda gave up, we had people just not being team players, and that's something we got to change," Perez said. "The team is better than you, you can still work hard, we got into our heads, and people just quit, and that's not acceptable.
"Something we got to work on, and hopefully we'll get everybody back and we can start fresh next week."
For the first time in a while, Poland fields a girl's junior varsity team, allowing the program to build depth. Meanwhile, it's some of the younger players that are shining brightest so far through four matches.
"I've been playing with some of these girls since I was five years old in travel," Blinsky said. "I know how a lot of them play, and I play club with a lot of them. I really think we can do good through the season."