A vastly different Canterbury side struggled to find any foothold against the Bellmont Braves Thursday night, dropping a rematch of last year’s sectional semifinals to coach Steve Lee’s team by a 6-0 margin.
Playing on the Cavaliers’ practice field because of a water issue on the main pitch, the Braves got an early goal from Oni Krueckeberg, but it was all they had to show at halftime, despite possessing the ball for more than 80% of the opening forty minutes.
It was a much different second half, however, for the Braves.
Maggie Wilson scored twice in a matter of eight minutes to put the Braves up 3-0, taking advantage of a great cross by Kaitlyn Barton for one of the tallies.
Grace Ruble then capitalized on a goalkeeping mistake by the Cavaliers’ backup keeper, knocking in a rebound for the team’s fourth goal.
Lilly Alberding and Lanie French added late goals to drive the margin of victory up to six goals.
The Cavaliers underwent a coaching change in the offseason and saw many transfers away from the prestigious private school on Fort Wayne’s southwest side. The absence of Abby Eilers in goal left Canterbury with just one substitute on the bench.
Emily Barton kept another clean sheet to continue the winning streak, wherein the Braves have not conceded a single goal in that span.
Krueckeberg’s first-half goal (see sequence below) was her team-leading 11th of the season.
The Braves’ final regular season fixture will be a meaningful one. They’ll play DeKalb in Decatur Monday on WZBD’s featured Game of the Week for the outright NE8 title.
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