JMS girls explode for a 9-0 opening day victory

By rscaife
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Updated: August 26, 2014

MCALISTERVILLE – There was no rust to shake off at the Juniata Mennonite Lions’ girls’ soccer game Friday night for the home team in McAlisterville.

Though there was a new coach the Lions showed their same will to win in their game against Bloomsburg Christian.

In the end, Juniata Mennonite would dominate the ball, defensively and offensively, shutting out the Knights 9-0.

Lexi Hann-Kline led the way for the victors finishing with two goals and an assist en route to the victory. Teammate Maggie Arnold also chipped in offensively with a two goal and an assist contest, herself.

Rounding out the goals for Juniata Mennonite were Anna Taylor, Amy Esterline, Chloe Campbell,Alaina Shambach and Clare Moyer.

“We got a lot of good minutes from girls who just starting playing this year. I am very impressed with how they moved the ball. Both the first string and second string moved the ball nicely. It is definitely a great way to start the year.” JMS coach Todd Taylor said. “Its great to get a good look at everybody and see what they can do. We tried to mix things up in the second half and moved them around a little. I think they (Bloomsburg) had a young team. We really impressed tonight and did a good job. It was a good tune up for the rest of the year.”

Offensively, the Lions outshot Bloomsburg 42-3 and led in corner opportunities by a 5-0 margin.

With a large roster of 17-plus players, the Lions showed their speed and agility from the beginning.

Juniata opened the game pushing the ball right down the field and before the Knights knew it, the Lions were knocking on the door.

Bloomsburg escaped blast after blast for the first seven minutes, despite the Lions shooting 10 shots directly at goalie Arianna Smith. Smith finished the contest with a total of 16 saves in a losing effort.

With nine minutes showing on the clock, JMS opened the scoring when Lexi Hann-Kline blazed her way down field “tickling the twine.”

Less than two minutes later, the Lions were back on the scoreboard again. This time it would be Maggie Arnold that would find the cracks in the Knights armor, plastering a goal at the 7:43 mark.

As the final ticks of the first quarter began to tick away, the Lions’ added their third goal of the quarter.

Anna Taylor picked up a pass from Maggie Arnold in transition and blew it past the goalie, making it 3-0.

In the second quarter, Juniata Mennonite got even hotter offensively posting four more goals to go into the intermission with a strong 7-0 advantage.

Amy Esterline’s unassisted goal at the 10:19 mark got things started.

From there Chloe Campbell’s goal thanks to a pass from Leah Campbell, increased the home teams lead to 5-0 with 7:39 left.

Before the Knights could blink Lexi Hann-Kline picked up her second goal. The goal came on an unassisted shot at the goal just 26-seconds later.

Maggie Arnold ended the first half scoring from Lexi Hann-Kline when the clock struck 3:36, putting the Lions in good shape, 7-0.

In the third, Juniata Mennonite added two more insurance goals and upped their defensive presence the rest of the way for the 9-0 shut out victory.