Pirates gain 2nd Central shutout

Once Britney Weibrecht broke the air-tight seal on the Central goal Thursday, her Perryville teammates sealed the Tigers' fate.

Weibrecht broke a scoreless deadlock seven minutes into the second half and the Pirates added two more in the next seven minutes in a 4-0 victory over Central.

Perryville improved to 10-2 with its second shutout of the season over Central, which fell to 6-4-1.

According to Weibrecht, the victory followed form for the Pirates.

"The second half we always tend to pick it up," the senior midfielder said. "The other team gets tired and that's to our advantage. We had the wind the second half that helped us out a lot. We just kept dumping it downfield and tried to wear them out."

Weibrecht scored off a direct kick from just outside the penalty area, looping a shot over a wall of Central defenders and the outstretched arms of Tigers goalie Natalie Followell.

From there, everything -- including the wind -- went Perryville's way.

Two minutes after Weibrecht's goal, Ashley Hadler took a pass from Amber Crites and looped a similar shot over Followell for a 2-0 lead.

"I don't think we quit, but once we got a goal or two down, they were kind of like sharks seeing blood," Central coach Tom Doyle said. "They were hungrier for the ball than we were."

The lead got more comfortable five minutes later when Ashley Blyzes tracked down a Amy Steffens throw-in behind the Tiger defense and rolled a shot into the net.

Jenna Schuessler capped the scoring in the 72nd minute when she deposited a pass from Blyzes.

The Pirates also put a shot off the crossbar as they controlled play throughout the half.

"They just outplayed us in every facet of the game, the second half especially," Doyle said.

The Tigers had the best scoring chance in the first half when Allie McGinty had Pirate goaltender Amanda Nuyt on the ground and out of position in the left side of the box, but rolled a shot off the left post. The ball sat near the goal line and defender Kate Lowry was able to clear before Central's Kate Miller could tap it in the net.

Nuyt was credited with 10 saves in posting her ninth shutout of the season. She said a 2-0 loss on Tuesday to Carbondale (Ill.) made the Pirates a little more determined against Central, a team it beat 1-0 earlier this season.

"We had to regroup today and did it pretty well," Nuyt said. "It's pretty exciting to beat them 4-0 because they're a pretty strong team too."

Central plays today in the Noon Optimist Spring Classic against Sikeston -- a team it beat 10-0 on Wednesday -- at 4 p.m. Should the Tigers win, Perryville, which receives a first-round bye, will await.

"One good thing about it is we'll probably get to play them again Saturday," Doyle said. "So we don't have to wait too long to seek some revenge."

jbreer@semissourian.com

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