3-1 win for Trojan girls’ in opener

The Fairfield girls' soccer team defeated Fort Madison 3-1 Thursday in their season/home/conference opener at Dexter Soccer Complex.

Eyes wide shut

Senior leader/standout Bryanna Popejoy claimed the first score of the day, although she literally didn't feel all that confident in claiming she was the last person to influence the ball before it found the back of the net.

'I don't really know,” said Popejoy with a smile, 'but I think the ball came off the back of a Fort Madison girl. I was in there and trying to head it. I signaled to Clare that I wanted the header and I may have closed my eyes so it came off weird and hit the Fort Madison girls back and went in.”

It takes two

After both teams found it near impossible to convert a goal during the first half while playing on the slick surface thanks to the tricky trickle of the almost-rain, more like a consistent spitting weather, Clare Else powered down the field for a 2-0 Fairfield lead.

'I got the ball on the right side of the field and I was a little bit outside of the penalty box, but I've been working on those long shots,” said the sophomore Else. 'I took a touch and shot it and the goalie almost had it but slipped up and it went in.”

Else has a long athletic history that includes years of dance that allows her to short-kick dribble the ball down the field.

'If I stride out, I slip or my momentum takes me past the ball, so I take it slow,” explained Else.

Back for the first time

Senior Mahayla Mellott was the third goal for Fairfield, scoring in her first varsity game.

'It was fantastic,” said the ecstatic left-wing. 'It was great to know that in my first game, I scored.”

When asked to recall the big moment, Mellott admitted that she has a different strategy to shots on goal.

'To be honest, I don't remember most of it. When it comes to shooting, I kind of just go, here comes the ball and I take the shot.”

Mellott is enjoying the added playing time and has embraced her new role on the field.

'I was always a little more timid, but this year I'm trying to break out of my shell and I spent a lot of time in the off season putting in work that I need to get better.”

Another new face that played noticeably well was left back Delaney Breen who cleared the ball for the defense several times.

'I naturally kind of understand it because it's like basketball, but with your feet,” explained the freshman.

Sophomore Emily McAvan has also improved after a big first season on the varsity squad.

'With Kristen [Burnstedt] graduating, I'm trying to step up into her role as forward and make good runs and be there when my team needs me and make good passes.”

Quick turnaround

With the spring season coming and going quickly, the Trojans are working to find their stride as the season gets underway.

'At the beginning of the game, we had to take our time with only two weeks of practice limiting their experience,” said head coach Brittany Winslow, 'but we talked about what we needed to do to break their flow up. Their goalie is not their normal goalie and I know that some of our long shots won't always go in, but I was happy we were starting to take them.”

Next

Fairfield travels to Mt. Pleasant today to face the Panthers with the game starting at 4:30 p.m. and the junior varsity to follow.