Crusaders down Tigers, stretch win streak to four

A pair of second-half goals was the difference in the Saxony Lutheran Crusaders’ 2-0 win over the Cape Central Tigers on Thursday at Saxony Lutheran High School.

After a scoreless first half, senior Ava Perry buried the game's first goal on the Crusaders’ senior day to make it 1-0 Saxony.

“I thought we were a little bit lackadaisical in the box and that’s why we didn’t score in the first half,” Crusaders coach Chris Crawford said. “I think that’s been our bugaboo all year is that we haven’t been aggressive in the box to score goals.”

Crawford said seeing Perry get the eventual game-winner was special to see.

“It was pretty awesome,” Crawford said. “She puts in the work every single day she comes here.”

Just minutes after Perry’s goal, Annie Adams would strike to stretch the Crusaders’ lead to 2-0.

Crawford had high praise for Anna Mueller, the senior center back who was also honored on senior day.

“Anna likely isn’t going to score a lot of goals as a center back,” Crawford said. “She did a lot of stuff tonight too. Seeing the goal is great but both (Adams and Perry) stuffed the stat sheet on stuff that’s not going to show up.”

After going up by two, the Crusaders would continue to attack and generate chances in an effort to stretch the lead to three.

“Up two in soccer is the most dangerous lead,” Crawford said. “We weren’t going to park the bus at that point. If we had gone up by three we may have started being a little bit more conservative but pushing for that third goal is important because when you sit back and they get one, then you’re in trouble.”

Cape Central (5-8) will return to the field for the regular season finale at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 9 when the Tigers take on Notre Dame at Notre Dame Regional High School.

Saxony Lutheran (9-7) rounds out its regular season at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, May 9 when the Crusaders host Perryville.

“We have to keep the same intensity and we have to keep playing smart,” Crawford said. “We’ve seen our silly mistakes be minimized and we just have to finish our opportunities.”