Aggressive offense leads to victory for Spartan soccer team

The Spartans won their second game in a row, a 3-1 victory over Ingraham Tuesday.

The game was scoreless for much of the first half, before Ingraham netted the first goal, a long dribbler that barely squeaked by Bainbridge goalkeeper Kendyl Daniels.

That was about all the action Daniels saw for the night.

Bainbridge (4-2) kept the ball on Ingraham's side of the field for the majority of the game, mixing short, quick passes with long streaks down the sidelines.

Following the Ingraham goal, with three minutes remaining in the first half, Bainbridge senior Anastasia Tschida lofted the ball over the heads of multiple defenders, scoring from nearly 30 yards out.

The Spartans weren't finished for the half.

Four minutes later, during stoppage time, senior Lauren Silvers connected with a header off a corner kick to make the halftime score 2-1.

"We just started working better together," said head coach Scott Druker. "Our objective was to keep possession of the ball."

Much like the first half, Bainbridge controlled the ball for most of the second half. Ingraham forced a few turnovers and got some breakaway chances, but for the most part the Spartans controlled the pace.

Senior captain Melissa Hoshizaki said the team has been working on new forms of positioning recently and it clicked for the team Tuesday.

“We finally figured it out and it’s starting to work to our advantage,” she said.

The superior positioning allowed the Spartans to control the ball.

Bainbridge had several opportunities to add a couple more goals on plays down the sidelines and shots from outside the 18-yard box but couldn't convert.

Druker said the shots weren't as crisp as they could have been, but the Spartans took advantage of their aggressive offense.

"Our shots weren't perfect," he said. "But we capitalized on shots in the box."

The momentum continued to be on the Spartans' side, but with 11 minutes left in the game, freshman midfielder Sarah Berschinski went down with an ankle injury.

But the Spartans didn't let the loss derail the gameplan. Bainbridge continued to keep possession and attack the Ingraham defense.

With three minutes remaining in the contest, Morgan Moniz added an insurance goal on a pass from sophomore Bryton Wildsmith.

Hoshizaki said the team could have easily had more than the three goals scored against Ingraham.

“Our shots weren’t stellar,” she said. “We need to get more power and accuracy.”

The Spartans will have to take advantage of those opportunities in their next game against Eastside Catholic Thursday. Eastside is undefeated so far this season.

To win its third straight game, Bainbridge will have to continue to control the ball and be in the right place at the right time, Druker said.

“Sometimes the game gets hectic and gaps and holes form,” he said. “I’m trying to make sure that I have bodies to fill those holes.”

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