After a week off due to a schedule change, the Oak Hill Golden Eagles picked up right where they left off, playing sound soccer on both sides of the ball in a 6-0 win over the Blackford Bruins on Wednesday evening.
Coach Katelyn Durrawachter was pleased with her team’s crisp passes, the way they went after the ball, and their superb communication throughout the game.
“Our offense focused on always providing two options to the ball and thinking two passes ahead,” Durrwachter said. “We’ve been working on it in practice, and the girls really put their practice into play this evening. We also won most of the 50/50 balls and communicated non-stop this evening.
“It was exciting to see those three areas of our game improve for every player tonight whether they were a starter or coming off the bench strong for us. As a coach it’s fun to watch your kids work hard and have good accomplishments to show for their efforts.”
Freshmen Carlee Biddle put on a show against Blackford, scoring three of the team’s six goals, while Rylea Roder maintained consistent offensive pressure throughout the entire game.
“Biddle had a hat trick for us this evening. She was the spark to our flame and brought a higher level of intensity and expectations to our offense. Royer couldn’t quite find the net tonight, but her movement both on and off the ball, along with her constant pressure on the back line and keeper, created so many scoring opportunities for us tonight. It didn’t show for her in her individual stats, but it absolutely contributed to our 6 goals this evening.
Furthermore, Oak Hill’s defense was sound once again, as Elizabeth McDivitt, Lizzie Wood, and Sarah Tucci kept the Blackford offense at bay.
“Our back line made sure that any loose 50/50 ball in their zone belonged to them alone tonight,” Durrwachter said. “[That] took pressure off our defense and supplied support to the offense.”
Oak Hill’s splendid play continued on Thursday, as they used a relentless offensive attack and excellent team defense to achieve a 1-0 victory over the Manchester Squires.
“The biggest factor in tonight’s game was our mindset,” Durrwachter said. “We’ve been challenging the girls to daily work on, push the boundaries, and improve their mental toughness. Tonight for the first time this year, we started off strong with our intensity, our work, hustle, etc., and in the second half cranked it up to the next level. We had an excellent first half, and Manchester is a tough team who knows how to put pressure on our defense, but the girls came out strong in the second half to dig deep and find a way to get a goal.”
Biddle scored the only goal – her fourth in two games – and impressed Durrwachter once again with her consistent play.
“She is an extremely talented, yet humble, and team-minded young player who we are very excited to see how she continues to grow and contribute to the program.”
On Saturday, the Golden Eagles traveled up to Kokomo to take on an excellent Northwestern team, and while Oak Hill ultimately lost the game 1-0, Durrwachter couldn’t have been prouder of the way her team performed.
“Honestly, this is the best we’ve played thus far,” Durrwachter said. “Northwestern is a talented, hard-working team. We had a lack of communication and a few mental mistakes early on and Northwestern capitalized on them to find the back of the net on us early in the first half. However, as a coach, it was encouraging to see how quickly our girls recognized the miscommunication, adjusted, and did not allow it to happen again even though Northwestern continued to put a lot of pressure on our defense.
“It’s tough to walk away with an 1-0 loss, however, our girls looked good tonight. Northwestern is a tough team, but the girls showed that they can not only play at that level of soccer, but be successful in it as well.”
With a Grant County matchup against Mississinewa on Tuesday, Durrwachter is looking for her team to continue improving on the basics.
“We need to continue to work on our fundamentals and fine tune our communication heading into next week,” Durrwachter said. “Our girls this week have really stepped up their mental toughness, their level of physicality on the ball, and their overall intensity. They have proved that they are a team to watch this year. Going into next week, we now need to continue to focus on our fundamentals and spend some major time on the little things.”
