It was a beautiful night for soccer as the Manchester Lady Squires welcomed the Wawasee Warriors to town—and Manchester wasted no time getting to work, rolling to an impressive 6-2 victory.
The Lady Squires came out firing from the opening whistle. Aeryn Klose got Manchester on the board early, finding the back of the net from just beyond the 18 off an assist from Elin Betten. Betten quickly followed with a goal of her own, finishing a great ball from Ava Sautter to give the Squires an early 2-0 advantage.
Manchester kept its foot on the gas. After a beautiful breakaway, Sautter was taken down inside the box and awarded a penalty kick. She calmly stepped up and buried the PK to extend the lead to 3-0. Klose was later fouled inside the box as well, earning Manchester another trip to the penalty spot. She made no mistake, putting it past the keeper for her second goal of the night and sending the Lady Squires into halftime with a commanding 4-0 lead.
The Squires picked up right where they left off in the second half. Mackenna Bolinger sent a beautiful cross into Klose, who finished it to complete the hat trick and push Manchester’s lead to 5-0.
Wawasee was able to sneak one past the Squires’ defense, but Manchester quickly answered. Betten took matters into her own hands, dribbling through the Warrior defense before finishing a fantastic solo goal for her second of the night. Wawasee added one more before the final whistle, but Manchester walked away with a convincing 6-2 win.
Manchester’s defensive line of Kerrington Hearn, Jocelynn Young, Mckayla Dillon, Elizabeth Reyes, Brooklynn Grimes, and Ely Mobley put together a strong performance, limiting Wawasee’s opportunities and shutting down attacks throughout the night. Brooklynn Grimes and Cora Brown both did a great job in goal for the Squires.
In the midfield, Allie Egolf battled all night, winning numerous 50/50 balls and helping Manchester control possession alongside Elin Betten and Delaney Harshman. On the outside, Mackenna Bolinger, Hayden Krom, Rachel Eberly, and Brynna Harshman worked hard on both sides of the ball and helped the Squires create dangerous opportunities going forward.
Ava Sautter controlled the front assisted by Raimi Vawter, Asia Mardy, Monce Davila, and Aeryn Klose who kept pressure on the Warrior defense and helped fuel a Manchester attack that found the back of the net six times.
