Soccer: Green Chargers trample Oilers

by Cory Butzin

It was more of a stampede than a match.

Four different players scored for the Chargers, as the Midland Dow junior varsity green soccer team employed a dominating offense and stingy defense Wednesday against visiting Mount Pleasant to mercy the Oilers 8-0.

“They played good,” said Dow coach Gary Strickler. “We’ve been working hard on trying to teach them how to get the goal, on how to use each other, how to get more people involved in the attack… They did a nice job at it.”

The Chargers controlled the ball and dictated the tempo from the opening kick. Summer Strickler opened the scoring for Dow in the twelfth minute, blasting a free kick by the Oiler goalie to give the Chargers an early advantage. Alyssa Rodammer joined in the fun five minutes later, firing a shot off a Mount Pleasant defender into the back of the net for her first goal of the night.

But the Chargers were done.

With three minutes remaining in the half, Dow’s relentless offensive rush again threatened deep in Oiler territory. Rodammer fired on net again, but her shot was deflected to Summer Strickler who crossed the field and found a wide-open Angela Ainaniampong for a goal to give Dow a commanding 3-0 lead going into the half.

The halftime intermission wasn’t enough to cool off the Chargers, as they started right where they left off.

Six minutes into the half, Rodammer found an open seem, raced along the sideline past a Mount Pleasant defender and fired on net, burying it for her second goal of the game.

That’s when Dow’s offense really started clicking.

Four minutes later Summer Strickler added her second goal, and within two minutes Ainaniampong added two more goals for the hat trick. Kellie Mussell would score with 13:11 remaining to give the Chargers an 8-0 lead, at which point the mercy rule took effect.

While the highlight of the game was Dow’s ferocious offensive attack, the part that Gary Strickler took great satisfaction in was the defense, which recorded the shutout.

“We’ve got a very solid defense,” he said. “We work on it all the time and I’ve got good players with good speed and they’re very steady.”

The Chargers improve their record to 3-0. They return to action Monday when they take on Clare at Dow High School. Game time is scheduled for 5 p.m.