MORGANTOWN — The Trinity Christian soccer team put on a dominant performance high on the hill in Sabraton on Saturday afternoon against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, downing the visitors 8-0, including seven first-half goals from seven different players.
It took 18 minutes into the first half for TCS to open the scoring as senior defender Carter Hartsock buried a volley off of a rebound save from the Notre Dame keeper. Once the first goal went into the back of the net, the Warriors (2-1-1) didn’t look back for one second. The lead was doubled by senior midfielder Charles Steptoe just 18 seconds later when he finished a nice solo run after the Warriors stole the kickoff.
TCS went on to net five more goals in the opening half, all from different members of the team. After a result of one win, one draw, and one loss from its first three matches, TCS was able to put together a solid 80-minute performance for a solid win heading into a busy week.
“I thought that we did well moving the ball today particularly,” TCS head coach Dan Lohmann said. “We got it off of our foot quickly. Our crossing was better today than the first few games and we got some dangerous balls into the box. We’ve been challenging our team to get the ball to the top of the six and they’ve done well with it.”
Junior Brock Shuba and senior Carmelo Kniska netted the next pair of goals for the Warriors. Shuba ran onto a ball that slipped through the ND defense after a wayward pass and calmly slotted the third TCS goal past the keeper. Kniska found the ball on his left foot inside the box and fooled the defense with a fake shot before cutting the ball back to his stronger right foot and curling a goal into the top corner.
His goal came with 12 minutes to go but sophomores Parker Hopkins and Brayden Clampfer, and freshman Evan Knight each added another goal for the hosts, extending their lead to seven goals at the break.
Lohmann praised his team’s ability to win as a unit and work for their opportunities as a whole.
“We’ve been trying to develop the depth of the team at more positions over the recent years,” he said. “Parker Hopkins played defense last year and we’ve recently moved him up to and attacking midfield role and he has done a tremendous job.”
Senior starting goalkeeper Ben Lohmann subbed out of the game for Hopkins to replace him in the back and took a spot on the left wing midway through the second half. He got his goal, and Trinity’s eighth, on a header after a corner by Shuba.
The Warriors will travel to Lewis County on Tuesday before heading back to Sabraton to host Wood County Christian. Coach Lohmann knows his team still has a lot of room to get better, and that the season is still young.
“We want to make sure we are a little cleaner at the back end,” he said. “Whenever that chance is there, just play through the ball and get it clear. We want them to build out of the back but when the opportunity to play it safe arises we need to recognize that and make sure we are smart with the ball. We want to challenge the defenses we see at a higher level every single game.”
