Spoofhounds grind out wet win

HENRY JANSSEN/DAILY FORUM
Maryville’s Kate Yocum and Savannah’s Kenedy Grant jostle for the ball on Thursday night. The Spoofhounds walked away victorious, 4-1.

The Maryville Spoofhounds’ girls soccer team had no trouble getting the ball into the attacking third on Thursday. The ‘Hounds walked away with a 4-1 victory in the muck against Savannah.

“The first five minutes we played lights-out,” Maryville coach Dale Reuter said. “Savannah’s a tough team, we caught them off-guard really quick. They’re a fast team, and we’re a fast team. Weather is a great equalizer when it comes to speed.”

The Spoofhounds play again Friday at 4 p.m. against Springfield Catholic. Catholic has appeared in four of the past five State championship games across the Class 1 and Class 2 levels.

“We know Springfield from last year, they have a tough girl to stop,” Reuter said. “If we can get on them early, we can control the game. With them being such a powerhouse, they’ll be ready to play. These are really good teams, they let us know right where we stand in Class 2, and it lets us know what we need to work on. You want those tough games in the early season.”

Savannah coach Jeff O’Neal said that his team is ready to rock in the Midland Empire as well.

Despite the tough three-goal loss, he thinks that his side is in fine form once the sun decides to peek its head out.

“We’re playing aggressive,” O’Neal said. “I told them to go out there and just play, and they played pretty well. They earned their goals. My center has some speed, and we had to try to slow them down if they got them through, and they did. Our first touches weren’t great.”

Maryville advances to 2-1 after Thursday’s conference victory.