Hat trick here, hat trick there

WASHINGTON — Although it was a 10-3 Washington victory against Southeast Conference foe Keokuk with two different players performing hat tricks, another with two goals and a fourth with one, Demons coach Sally Hart said her boys soccer team was going to work on defense in preparation for Monday’s league game at Class 2A’s eighth-ranked Fairfield.

“My disappointment in the game was allowing any goals,” Hart said. “That is not the keeper’s fault, that is on the entire team. The 10 guys in front of him allowed that to happen.”

The match tilted to Washington quickly as Brayan Arreola placed two balls in the net within the first 8 minutes. Moments later, he blasted a rocket at the net and it connected with the cross bar.

"I saw the side ref rule it a goal but the center ref didn’t call it,“ Arreola said.

Fabian DeJesus kicked it in to be sure, and it was 3-0. Noah Suchan found the net minutes later, and it was 4-0.

Unsure whether he had a hat trick, Arreola removed doubt when he scored with 25 minutes remaining in the first half.

“It felt good to know I had it, but when I didn’t know and I couldn’t celebrate, I just kept playing,” Arreola said. “That’s where the fun is. I wasn’t expecting it, but it don’t matter as long as we win.”

DeJesus scored a goal when the ball bounced off the keeper, and he punched it in with a sliding kick.

Zac Stout stole the ball in front of the Chiefs net and kicked in the seventh goal. Keokuk made it 7-1 4 minutes before halftime.

It was 7-2 on a Chiefs goal 5 minutes into the second period, but Stout made it 8-2 with a goal and put up a hat trick by converting a penalty kick. A Chiefs goal with 2:20 left was answered with Stout’s fourth goal at the minute mark.

The win came easy, but Arreola would not say the Chiefs were bad, but he did say the Demons “definitely played better competition. This was a practice game for bigger competition like Fort Madison because we have to beat Fort Madison.”

A 4-2 loss to the Bloodhounds a week ago seems to still be on the collective Demons mind.

“They had more shots, more chances because their passing game was really good,” Arreola said. “We need to find a counter, find space, find passes, find gaps, and play smarter to beat them here.”

The Demons have eight freshmen, many have played club ball and traveled a lot to participate in tournaments against kids from other countries.

"I played against better people, better teams and learned to play better with better strategy with a lot of knowledge, but high school is a different game,“ Arreola said and opined that the Demons may have learned more about themselves losing to Fort Madison 4-2 than romping over Keokuk.

"I would agree with that statement all day,“ Hart said. "A better team makes us play better. That’s the kind of game I want.”

There’s a different mindset on the Demons, and they know they’re capable of “big things,” Hart said. “We just need to click, and we haven’t quite clicked yet. Once they do, it’s going to be remarkable, but I have to get them there.”

The ranking of the Trojans brings prestige to the league, but the Demons want to win. “There’s a reason we play the game, so we’ll do our best in practice and come ready to play on Monday,” Hart said.