Jackson rolls to 7-1 win vs. Central

Jackson freshman Erin Eakens made scoring look easy after she received a pass and split the Central defense, leading to a breakaway goal during the first half Tuesday.

The Indians' offense looked sharp — scoring on three breakaways in the first half alone — while cruising to a 7-1 road victory over rival Central.

"We had some really good passes, and when we pass really well, then we get breakaways like that," Eakens said. "We have good chemistry."

Jackson continued its strong start, improving to 4-0, while Central dropped to 1-3 under first-year coach Elizabeth Fleer.

"We are a really young team and we have quite a few freshmen and sophomores out there trying to lead the way for us, so I think a lot of times it's just a lack of experience on our part," Fleer said. "Plus, we're trying to play a new system this year. I think last year they played a sweeper/stopper, whereas this year we're trying to go to a flat-back four. So I kind of went into the season expecting a few losses."

Fleer is a 2007 graduate of SIU-Edwardsville, where she played soccer, and was an assistant coach at Incarnate Word Academy last spring. She said the Indians' quickness on offense created problems for her team.

"We have kind of a slower team to begin with, and they do have quite a few quick girls," Fleer said. "But it's also a lack of communication between our backs and our goalie and them having quick forwards and not holding our marks to begin with and letting them get that first touch."

Jackson senior Bobbi Jo Schlick, who already has signed to play soccer at Southeast Missouri State, scored a hat trick. She had two goals in the first half to help the Indians jump out to a 4-0 lead at the break. Schlick added her third goal a little more than 10 minutes into the second half.

Schlick had one of the breakaway goals in the first half. Her shot barely got past Central goalie Meg Goodman, who cheated in and was able to deflect the shot to slow it down as the ball made its way toward the net. The shot still managed to find its way in despite Goodman retreating to make a second attempt at stopping it.

Kasey Crowden also broke through the Central defense in the first half, sprinting down the left side before angling in toward the net and firing a shot past Goodman, who was replaced by Caitlin Smith during the second half.

Crowden scored twice. Katelyn Myracle netted the other goal for Jackson, which had 17 shots and created numerous scoring chances in the first half.

"We always come out hard against Cape because they're our rival," Crowden said. "We just put it together. We were passing good and we really worked as a team today. We were talking really good to each other and moving off the ball, making runs. ... As long as we play as a team, everybody can get a goal."

Sarah Uptmor scored the lone goal for Central. It came during the first minute of the second half to cut the deficit to 4-1.

But Jackson regained the four-goal edge less than three minutes later when Myracle scored off a deflection after a corner kick.

"The offense just kept going strong and they didn't let down," Jackson defender Megan Davidson said. "They kept pressuring. They kept making those runs. They just busted their butts the whole game just to keep us scoring."

Junior Morgan Riddick recorded the win in net for Jackson.

"We played really well together," Davidson said of the Jackson defense. "We stayed solid and we just kept covering for each other. Even on the hard runs, we had to make sure we still covered for each other's backs. We did our best. We always come out real hard for Cape, especially since they are our rivals and they do have girls that we've played with on club teams."