TOLEDO — A lack of depth and injuries has hampered what the Toledo High School girls soccer team seeks to do offensively. One of their pillars has been shot efficiency and taking high quality chances, rather than just shooting to shoot.
From playing with 10 girls versus Black Hills and having limited substitutions elsewhere, the Riverhawks have still found a way to have a winning record entering October.
“There’s a difference between shooting towards the goal and having a purpose," Toledo head coach Horst Malunat said.
If Monday was any indication, Toledo may have turned a corner.
Freshman winger Aspen Cooper recorded a first half hat trick while Onica Chase plus Xtyn Norberg scored two times each, all vitally important to the Riverhawks 8-2 triumph against Adna at home in their C2BL opener.
It’s a new season-high in goals and the most Toledo (4-2-2, 1-0 C2BL) has registered since a seven-game stretch of 31 unanswered goals last fall. That included back-to-back 8-0 verdicts over Toutle Lake and Forks.
“We have to play the same tempo and have a standard that we play all the time,” Malunat said.
Cooper was more of a midfielder as an eighth grader and has played all over the field this season, a mix between winger, midfield and more of a defensive midfielder. She’s usually in one-on-one matchups and can get by defenders with her speed.
She scored in the 5th, 16th and 34th minutes. Each time she cut in the middle and struck goals with her right foot.
“She is fast and tenacious,” Malunat said. “Soccer is her thing and she's more assertive. She’s finding her niche.”
Chase added goals in the 27th and 31st minute while Norberg’s two goals came in the second half at the 48th and 75th minute. Toledo finished with 37 shots, 19 of them in the first half and 17 on frame.
Talk about efficiency.
“We had ample opportunities,” Malunat said. “I’m still moving the chessboard around to what fits us best. I have a general idea, but we’re still fine-tuning things.”
One of the biggest swings came early in the first half. Cooper’s second goal made it 2-0, then Adna’s Madi Otten scored quickly on the kickoff in the 17th minute to cut the deficit in half. The Riverhawks answered immediately with a Peyton Holter goal in the 18th minute.
Two goals was the closest the Pirates (5-5, 1-1) were all night.
“I thought it was going to be a high-scoring half and we could have had a few more opportunities where we can get some of those (goals) back,” Adna head coach Patrick Richardson said.
Defensively, it has been a struggle for Adna. Three of its five losses have seen the opponent score at least seven goals. Lopez Island in the season-opener, Tonasket on Sept. 26 and Raymond/South Bend last week are the only times the Pirates have given up one goal.
They did pitch a second half shutout versus La Conner after allowing four goals in the opening 40 minutes.
Alyson Terry and Zoey Goodman, a pair of seniors, are the most experienced in the backline. Two underclassmen are the outside backs and a freshman occupies a defensive midfielder.
“We’re not clicking every time,” Richardson said. “They all bust their butts out there, but the things we talk about daily, we’re not always making the transition to do it. Some other days they’re on it.
“I think we’ll get it figured out.”
Terry laced a free kick goal in the 24th minute for Adna, which turns its attention to Onalaska on Wednesday before its final non-league game against Lincoln. Meanwhile for the Riverhawks, they travel to Forks on Wednesday.
Both sides still feel confident in their rosters, with Richardson admitting he didn’t feel like Monday was “a step back.”
“Offensively we’re getting things figured out which is nice to see,” he said. “It is not an easy week.”
Malunat is hopeful his group can now string together consecutive wins, something the Riverhawks haven’t done in a month.
“We have the targets so every team is going to give us their best game,” Malunat said. “Every local team is a rivalry. We have to keep getting better.”
