Springfield, Mo. – It took them about 30 minutes of action to find their game, but once they did, the Springfield Catholic Fightin’ Irish were tough to stop.
Zach Straus scored two goals and Kaueh Huttenlocher added two assists as the Irish sped past visiting Marshfield on Tuesday night at Springfield Catholic High School. All three goals came in the second half.
“The biggest thing was moving Zach from center-back to the No. 9 position and then moving Kaueh from the No. 9 position to underneath him,” Irish coach Mike Hines said. “When those two get going forward with speed, they’re pretty hard to handle.”
MARSHFIELD VS. CATHOLIC PHOTOS
On Catholic’s first goal, Huttenlocher found Straus in the box in the 46th minute, and Straus did the rest. Thirteen minutes later, Straus booted in a free-kick from 23 yards out. In the 60th, Keegan Randall took Huttenlocher’s feed and knocked it in.
“After I moved out of the back, Kaueh and me and our other outside-mids really linked up well and had better chemistry,” Straus said. “It turned out for the best for us.”
Catholic (1-2) dominated possession most of the night, but Marshfield (1-1) hung tough and made the Irish work for its chances.
“(Marshfield) battled real hard,” Hines admitted. “I know they’re a little dinged up and a little hurt. I compliment them for their work ethic.”
Towards the end of the first half, the Irish—which outshot Marshfield 23-3 on the night—started seeing its quality looks at the goal increase. Hines complimented the play of freshman Trey Garoutte.
“We had some very nice play from Trey,” Hines said. “He had some nice crosses that really put Marshfield under some duress. We’ve been focusing all week on putting the ball where it makes (the opponent) make a play.”
In the 28th minute, Randell slipped past Marshfield’s back line, but his blast from 10 yards away found Marshfield keeper Matt Bertoldie. Three minutes later, Ryan Miller’s chip from the top of the 18 clipped the crossbar. It seemed like Catholic was getting closer and closer to punching a goal through, and indeed they were.
“We switched our formation from our first two games to a more conservative 4-5-1,” Hines said. “It helps us to relax, so our time of possession tonight was very good. I assume it was 90-plus percent. We’re still finding ways to get it in the back of the net. We keep moving some guys around, but I think we’re pretty close to coming up with how to solve that a little more consistently.”
Marshfield hosts Aurora on Thursday, while Catholic plays College Heights. The Irish will then draw Logan Rogersville on Tuesday before the first-ever Missouri Catholic Showcase on September 9-10, which includes Bishop DuBourg, Trinity Catholic, and last year’s Class 2 state champion O’Hara.
Marshfield 0 0 0
Catholic 0 3 3
Goals
45:45 – Straus (Huttenlocher ast)
58:34 – Straus (free kick)
59:26 – Randell (Huttenlocher ast)
