Saxony Lutheran girls soccer team holds off Perryville

This season has been a learning experience for the defense of the Saxony Lutheran girls soccer team, which has two defenders who have never before played the position, according to Crusaders coach Chris Crawford.

Saxony entered Thursday's game having given up an average of less than one goal per game and didn't disappoint, recording its ninth shutout of the season in a 1-0 victory over Perryville at Saxony Lutheran High School.

"At the beginning of the year, we were struggling to find chemistry there, and the communication, as we've gotten to play a little bit more, they've found that," Crawford said about his defense. "They're a tough group to get through on, and if somebody gets a goal, they've definitely earned it against that group now. So I couldn't be more proud of those girls and the team in general."

The Crusaders (15-2) were aggressive on offense in the first half, and Crawford was pleased with the way his forwards were able to regain possession of the 50/50 balls.

"There were times in the game today where we didn't do as good of a job as we have and that we would like, but overall, we did a good job. Ultimately, it led to our goals. You can't ever complain about that," Crawford said. "... Getting pressure on their backs and kind of stepping up and putting our line high against them, that's what's going to happen. You're going to get goals like that, and in a good, competitive game, sometimes that's the difference. And today it was."

Saxony netted the only goal of the game inside the 23rd minute when Grace Mirly scored on an assist from Ali Galemmo. Crawford said the goal was a product of his offense's persistent pressure.

"The goal was a good play by Ali to get it into Grace there," Crawford said. "We talk about it all the time in practice just to get pressure on the ball, especially when their defenders have it. It paid off for us that time, and I think we wore on them a little bit throughout the game by putting that pressure on them."

Despite his team's loss, Perryville coach Jerry Fulton was pleased to see his players stick with their gameplan.

"We could've caught a couple lucky breaks. It didn't happen, but we stayed with the plan. In a 1-0 game, you really can't complain about that," Fulton said. "I might have questioned if the girl was on(side) or not. He said she was, so that's all we could do. All in all, I thought our girls played a good game."

Although the Pirates (13-3) were held in check by a stifling Saxony defense, Fulton said his team didn't make it easy on itself either.

"We didn't put the through balls through where they needed to go. We just kind of had a little bit of an off day on that, but they did a very nice job of shutting that down because our two up top are pretty quick when they get going," Fulton said. "It just didn't happen today."

With a little less than five minutes remaining in the game, Saxony forward Brianna Mueller had a golden opportunity to increase the Crusaders' lead on a free kick about 25 yards in front of the net, however, the shot ricocheted off the crossbar before being cleared by the Perryville defense.

Crawford said he still wants to see more from his offense with the postseason on the horizon.

"You're always glad when you can come out on the winning end of a game between two good teams," Crawford said. "We still have a lot of things that we need to work on, but a win's a win. We'll take it. That's a very good Perryville team, so we're glad to come out with a win."

The Pirates found several scoring chances in the second half, but the chances were limited. Fulton said his team has been better in the second half all season.

"They always listen at the halftime speech, and they always go out and do what we tell them to do. Today was no different," Fulton said. "Unfortunately for us, Saxony was able to hang on to that one-goal lead and shut us out."

Saxony has four regular-season games remaining before the district tournament begins May 18, and Crawford likes where his team stands. The Crusaders have outscored their opponents by a combined 64-13.

"We have some things we need to work on. We need to build a little more chemistry with our forwards and our mids, but right now, you can't complain about having two losses," Crawford said. "There aren't a lot of teams around here that only have two losses or fewer. I'm proud of that, but we know and the girls know that we can play at a higher level. We're just constantly working towards that in practice and in games."