Mt. Pleasant girls soccer opens season

MT. PLEASANT — Tuesday nights season opener at East Lake Park was everything Mt. Pleasant could have wanted in a first game, minus the windy and chilly weather.

The elements didn’t phase the Panthers as they got their season started right with a dominating 6-2 win over Mediapolis.

Mt. Pleasant’s Elly Manning had herself quite the opening game on the pitch picking up four goals and one assist.

“I’m so excited to get this season started,” Manning said. “It was great to be back out here.”

Despite the four goal victory it wasn’t easy at the start. For the first 15 minutes of the contest, Mt. Pleasant created chance after chance, easily controlling possession. It looked as if the Panthers were going to open the flood gates at any moment.

Mt. Pleasant freshman forward Tori Wilson showed her ability to get out in the open, with a multitude of chances created in the first half, and one would finally find the back of the net, but not before Mediapolis put the pressure on.

From the 32:45 mark to 26:43 it was Mediapolis with the momentum, and Mt. Pleasant’s Leslie Lopez had to make three saves in that span, including two back to back off a Mediapolis cross.

The goal scoring woes were finally broken at the 24:09 mark in the first, with Mediapolis striking first. A well placed cross from the right reached Mediapolis’ Hadley Johnson and she found the back of the net for a 1-0 Mediapolis lead.

That lead would be short-lived as it didn’t take long for the Panthers to answer back. Mt. Pleasant went on the offensive with Elly Manning and Wilson leading the charge at goal.

It was Wilson who would strike first. Wilson received a great through ball from Manning as she ran up field and found herself one on one with the keeper. She was able to slot the ball into the bottom right to tie the game at 1-1.

A little over five minutes later, Manning found the back of the net for her first goal of the year and the first of four on the night.

Manning’s initial shot was saved by the keeper, but the ball fell right back to her and she was able to send it through, giving the Panthers a 2-1 advantage.

“I saw there back line was trying to stay super high up so the through balls were there all day long,” Manning said. “I think we caught on to that really fast. For it being our first time playing together I think we figured out how each other play really quick. By the second half we were able to get it going.”

At the start of the second half, the Panthers picked up right where they left off. This time around it was Charice Auwerda finding the back of the net at 38:49 off a pass from Wilson. Auwerda was a catalyst with the ball, picking up a team-high two assist on the day.

Manning grabbed her second goal not four minutes later, 35:02, when the Mediapolis goalie miss kicked and sent the ball right at her for a one on one. The Panthers made it a 4-1 ballgame in a matter of five minutes.

It wasn’t over yet. Manning secured her hat trick at the 25:30 mark in the second with yet another one versus one against the keeper. She would add one more to her resume a little over a minute later with an spectacular lofted ball from outside the box that found its way over the keepers head, giving the Panthers a 6-1 lead.

Mediapolis would get one late consolation goal, but Mt. Pleasant’s damage had been done.

Along with Manning’s four goals and one assist, Tori Wilson scored one goal and one assist. Charice Auwerda finished with a goal and two assists. Kiera Frazier ended with one assists. Leslie Lopez picked up four saves and allowed one goal. Evelyn Escobar saved two goals and allowed one.

“Our team is very young to what we’ve had in the past,” Mt. Pleasant head coach Scott Stribe said. “We lost nine starters from last year. Traditionally this would be a rebuilding year, but with the team we have we have high expectations. Frankly the girls came out here and as I told the girls we all make mistakes, but we still got the victory. Lets learn from it, move on and get ready for our next match on Thursday.”