Another Demons hat trick

WASHINGTON — Monday it was a double hat trick by Trina Griffin in a Washington girls soccer road win. Thursday it was a hat trick from Greta Rothe in a Demons Southeast Conference 6-2 home win over Fort Madison.

The Bloodhounds led 1-0, but Giselle Marcelino tied it for the Demons. A penalty kick gave the visitors a 2-1 lead, but Rothe “got a really good pass from one of my teammates, dribbled to the outside, then I saw an open goal, and I shot it. It went in.”

Tied 2-2 at halftime, Griffin hit a sliding kick 5 minutes into the second half for a 3-2 advantage. Griffin’s pass to Rothe at 13:36 remaining resulted in Rothe’s second tally. Griffin chased down a through ball for an easy blast into the net with 3:27 remaining for a 5-2 score.

Rothe hit the final goal from about 40 yards on a free kick with 57 seconds on the clock.

“I think we did amazing as a team,” Rothe said. “Everybody is humble. We pass to each other. We built up the field well. Our defenders did amazing. I thought everybody played their role very well.”

Tied at halftime 2-2 while playing into the wind was “not necessarily a bad thing,” said Washington head coach Steven Caulk, who made some adjustments at halftime. “We tried to shore up our defense. We had to be sure to play our ball for the outside, and they did not get as many opportunities.”

The Demons played faster in transition with the wind at their backs and had more opportunities as a result.

“It’s a great first week,” said Caulk with two wins under his belt. “This program has had struggles. Two seasons ago was a lot to be proud of. There’s a lot of excitement right now, the girls are really excited, I’m excited as a coach. We can build on this.”