Covenant rolls in semis

As the defending state champion, the Covenant girls soccer team has been eager for the postseason to arrive.

Playing host in the LIS semifinals against Steward, the Eagles made quick work of the Spartans, scoring early and often in a 9-0 victory.

“In really sloppy conditions, I was impressed with how much the gals trapped the ball, passed the ball and moved the ball,” said Covenant coach Pat Campbell. “I was very happy with what they were doing.”

Kelly Crispens and Erin Hauser put Covenant in front early. Hauser tucked in her first of four goals of a Crispens’ pass in the game’s first minute. Crispens scored just one minute later and went on to finish with three goals.

The Eagles dominated Steward (1-11-1) in the middle of the field and had no trouble working the edges, putting themselves on sustainable offense for almost the entire game.

“Sometimes when you’re playing a team that’s not quite at your level, you tend to play down a bit,” Crispens said. “But I don’t think we did that all — we stepped up our game and played hard the whole way through. We never took it easy, and I think that helped us get the score up pretty quickly.”

Emily Klein and Alyse Marotta scored the other two goals for the Eagles (17-1-1), both of which came in the latter end of the second half.

“I really feel like the team is finding whatever is available right now,” Campbell said. “If there’s an opening in the middle, they take that, or if it’s on the side, they take that. The players on the field are really making good decisions. I’m giving them the lineup and then they’re really making it happen out there.”

Covenant goalkeepers Anna Gilliam and Lina Godine saw just two shots apiece, while the Eagles offense pasted Spartans keeper Ciceli Bradshaw with 29 shots.

“This is the third time we’ve played them, and the first time they won 9-0 and the second time they won 11-0,” said Steward coach Alex Naime. “A high school team like them, that’s well equipped, there’s nothing you can really do. We just picked up our first win of the year [on Monday] so for us, we just wanted to come out here and try our best.”

The Eagles will host the winner of the other LIS quarterfinal between St. Anne’s-Belfield and Fredericksburg Academy on Thursday at 5 p.m. before they get their chance to defend their state title.

“We’re all kind of ready to get to states,” Crispens said. “That’s what everything has been building up to all year. After winning it last year, all of us have been excited about trying to do it two years in a row because we’ve got a lot of seniors. It’d be really fun to get another [title] this year.”