WEBB CITY, Mo. — Taking control early, the Webb City High School girls soccer team scored three goals in the first eight minutes of action en route to a dominating 8-0 mercy-rule victory over Springfield Central on Thursday at Cardinal Stadium.
With a second straight lopsided win, Webb City hiked its record to 4-2.
“Tonight’s result is a testament to the work these girls have been putting in,” Webb City head coach Justin Boudreaux said. “This is our third game of the week. For them to come out and have that same energy that they’ve had in our earlier games was great to see. That’s something we’ve emphasized. We know the legs are tired, but we wanted to come out and take care of business. The girls did that tonight, so I’m proud of them for sure.”
The Cardinals controlled possession from the start, as the hosts had numerous scoring opportunities.
Junior forwards Alex Maturino and Dakota DeGraffenreid opened the scoring with back-to-back goals in the seventh minute. Freshman forward Avery Pogue added a goal in the eighth minute to give the hosts an early 3-0 cushion.
DeGraffenreid scored another unassisted goal, this time in the 17th minute, to extend Webb City’s advantage to 4-0.
Freshman midfielder Sammy Gallardo recorded a goal in the 35th minute, and the Cardinals held a comfortable 5-0 lead at intermission.
Webb City recorded 17 shots on-goal in the first half alone.
“We’ve worked a lot this week on getting more people involved in our attack,” said Boudreaux, who is in his second season as the program’s head coach. “That was evident tonight. You saw multiple girls score goals.”
After the break, Pogue and Maturino both notched their second goals of the night to give the Cardinals a 7-0 lead. The goals came in the 44th and 45th minutes.
DeGraffenreid completed a hat trick in the 57th minute for the final margin, as her third goal of the match ended the contest early due to the mercy rule.
DeGraffenreid, who was credited with two assists Thursday, has now scored eight goals this season, Boudreaux noted.
“She’s the best player on the field and we’re looking to get her the ball on the attack,” Boudreaux said. “She’s got some help underneath her. She’s got options. But she’s definitely our workhorse and the one we lean on. You saw that tonight. She’s really hungry this season because she missed a lot of last year with a hamstring injury.”
Webb City senior goalkeeper Addison Brown earned the clean sheet. Brown, who was rarely challenged throughout the contest, was credited with one save.
On the other hand, the Cardinals recorded 28 shots on-goal, keeping Central’s goalkeeper duo of Tension Parker and Saskia Stevens under constant pressure.
Webb City suffered a 2-1 setback to Springdale (Arkansas) Har-Ber on Monday before the Cardinals rolled to a mercy-rule win over Lebanon on Tuesday.
After his team notched its second straight lopsided win, Boudreaux noted there’s a lot to like about this year’s group.
“A lot of these girls have grown up playing the game,” Boudreaux said. “And it’s a group that has been playing soccer together for a long time. You see that chemistry. You can tell they like playing together. It’s just a fun group of girls to coach. I coached a lot of these girls in club soccer before I took over as the head coach. It’s a group that’s special to me. They’ve put in the work, they’ve put in the time and it’s a team that wants to win and wants to play the game the right way. And they’re doing a great job of that so far.”
Webb City will return to action Tuesday at Glendale.
