The Wilmington High School soccer teams christened the newly-turfed Alumni Field Friday night with a sweep of South Central Ohio League rival McClain.
The WHS boys came out strong and cruised to an 8-2 win in the first official event on the turf.
The Lady Hurricane followed with a 9-3 win over the Lady Tigers in the nightcap.
For the boys, Sam Spirk had four goals and an assist to lead the WHS offense.
The Hurricane jumped out to a 4-0 lead with Spirk and Pablo Russo both scoring two goals.
Then the offense slowed a bit.
“What I didn’t like has a lot to do with the psychology,” said WHS coach Imad El-Macharrafie. “We came out strong and put in goals real quick and then fall flat.
“It was 4-0 and then Greenfield scores and we’re ‘Oh, we’re in a game.’ Then we scored, less than a minute (later) and its 5-1. As soon as we let up off the pedal, Greenfield scores. It happened to us twice. The bottom line is youth.”
Pablo Russo had two goals and an assist while Seth Gundlach and Avery Greenlees had one goal each. Greenlees also contributed a pair of assists.
Charlie Schumaker had two assists as did Hayden Straley.
Kaden Laufer was in goal and recorded nine saves for the Hurricane.
“Our ball control ability was good,” said El-Macharrafie. “We were able to keep the ball long enough to make things happen.”
On the girls side, coach Kerry Lewis was pleased with the end result.
“Not our best performance but a good start to the season,” he said. “We got valuable playing time for all the girls. Our movement off the ball and possession improved throughout the game but it’s still a work in progress.”
Drezden Beam, like Spirk for the boys, registered four goals in the game.
Savannah Morgan had a goal and four assists. Jordan Snarr had a goal and two assists. Katlyn Jamiel, Bridgette Thompson and Bryah Arehart also scored for the Lady Hurricane.
Erin Cornwell, Alyssa Lewis, Olivia Lewis and Thompson had assists for WHS.
“I was pleased with our younger players Ashlyn Carey, Olivia Lewis and Jordan Snarr. It’s very encouraging to see them all play so well so early in the season.”
Lewis said his squad would “have to play better than we did tonight to beat Hillsboro next week.”
Megan Borton played a scoreless first half in goal for Wilmington. Lyla Self was the goalkeeper in the second half.
