Sustaining a slim 1-0 lead at halftime, Republic (1-1) found itself in a dogfight with homestanding Rogersville (0-2) on Thursday, but that all changed during the final 40 minutes as the Lady Tigers erupted for five second-half goals to claim a 6-0 win on the road.
The Lady Tigers were successful in keeping the ball on Rogersville's side of the pitch for the vast majority of the opening half, but outside of an early score in the fifth minute by senior Emily Griffith, Republic was unable to cash in on its offensive opportunities.
The bend-but-don't-break persona of the Lady Wildcats prompted Republic head coach Kevin Hauck to look for alternate ways to make further headway on the scoreboard.
The answer? Aggressiveness.
“In the first half, I thought we were a little late on taking shot opportunities and I thought we were pulling the trigger a little earlier in the second half,” said Hauck, who earned his first win as head coach of the Lady Tigers. “I think that allowed for things to open up. We got a lot of crosses in and we crashed the box a lot harder.”
Four different players scored goals in the second period for Hauck's club including Emily Jordan, Charlotte Mikkelsen, Madi Mitchell and Grace Lightfoot – making things difficult for Rogersville junior keeper Hanna Hendrickson.
However, it was Jordan who made her mark on the final 40 minutes the most. The junior forward converted her first netter of the match less than two minutes into the second half when the ball ricocheted off the post and found an open Jordan, who rocketed an uncontested shot into the goal.
With 23:08 to play, Jordan, who was playing virtually everywhere on the field, would strike again – this time showing her power and accuracy from 18 yards out.
“A lot of teams are going to try to take her out of the game, so we came up with the game plan today to kind of get her moving around the field more,” said Hauck of Jordan. “Not just playing in the middle, but playing up top and playing really everywhere.”
Jordan's versatility opened the door for her teammates to get in on the scoring action as well – creating an environment for Rogersville to have to unwillingly keep its focus on multiple offensive threats.
“[Jordan] did a fantastic job of moving,” Hauck said. “I think if we can continue to keep her doing that, I think it will really help our attack a lot.”
All told, the Lady Tigers compiled 20 shots-on-goal while, in turn, making life rather easy for Republic goalkeeper Jessica Laster with a defense that fared much better in comparison to one that yielded four goals in a loss to Rolla two days prior.
“This defense was different from Tuesday night and they looked good,” added Hauck. “They did a good a job and I was really proud of them. We're going to continue to grow and hopefully we'll continue to build and just get stronger and stronger throughout the year.”
Republic will continue on its three-game road trip as it travels to MV-BT/Liberty on Tuesday. Rogersville's next game is also on Tuesday and will battle with Springfield Catholic on the road.
