Dutchtown quickly answered East Ascension’s initial goal in the opening minutes and broke away from the onset of the second half with a goal in the first minute on way to a 4-1 District 6-1 victory Wednesday night at Spartan Stadium.
“I was extremely proud of our guys,” Dutchtown head coach Larry Chambless said. “They worked within themselves and got right back in it. That was really big.
“I came into the game thinking it was going to be a one goal game either way. We can score but usually you wouldn’t think we would put up four goals against a solid team like EA. They have more experience than us and have played in some big games. I am sure they are going to make adjustments and come out hungrier in the next game. This is great and we are going to enjoy it but we are going to come out hungrier tomorrow because if we lose the second game to them by more goals than we beat them, we are right back where we were last year. Every goal was important tonight because of the goal differential.”
No. 10 Dutchtown (14-4-1, 3-0) now sits in the district lead over No. 11 East Ascension (12-5-1, 2-1) with two games remaining in the first round of play. Last season, they split and the district championship was awarded to the Spartans by way of goal differential.
“That has been one our weaknesses this year,” East Ascension head coach Rueben Ruiz said. “We will score and relax. It has happened to us several times this season. That is one thing we have to correct especially when you can get ahead of a good team like that. You can’t relax and let them even the score right away.
“We have to play them again and it is a win we have to have. Either we are going to have to make up the goal differential or get some help down the road.”
Drake Fruge led Dutchtown’s attack with two goals, while Ryan Reid and Ricky Lawrence each added one. Carlos Hermosillo posted East Ascension’s lone goal.
The Spartans attacked Dutchtown goal keeper Ian Hanlon early with shots from Justin Ruiz, Jared Hill, Edwin Morales and Blake Parr but he kept them off the board until Parr fed Hermosillo, whose high shot Hanlon tipped before it fell into the net in the 12th minute gave East Ascension a 1-0 lead.
“It looked like they came out with a little more intensity and were controlling the run of play,” Chambless said. “They seized the momentum. They were on our half a little more which is exactly opposite of what we wanted to happen. They like to drop the ball back to their midfielders that are trailing who put it on frame and that is exactly what they did.”
Dutchtown quickly answered less than two minutes later when Lloyd Johnson fed Fruge inside pulling goal keeper Chad Leodler out to knot it up 1-1.
East Ascension would slightly out shoot the Griffins the remainder of the half as Ruiz’s second consecutive shot just went over the crossbar. Fruge’s side kick that slided across the bar provided Dutchtown with their closest opportunity.
Reid broke away within the first minute of the second half to give Dutchtown the lead and Fruge made it 3-1 less than a minute later with a goal off his chest.
“The second goal for us was huge,” Chambless said. “It put the pressure on them. They changed their lineup by moving to three forwards while leaving three defenders because they realized they were having trouble getting shots on frame. They saw a few more opportunities but our defense was patient, pushed people wide and gave up long shots. Ian is on goal, so you like to think he has a chance on shots from far out and at a bad angle. We adjusted as soon as we saw their formation change by playing balls quickly. Our defense is so good but we are a pretty good offensive team and I think they finally started to click tonight.”
Dutchtown padded its lead with 17:50 left to play on Lawrence’s breakaway.
“When we got down, we moved Samir Martinez up to try and generate some offense but when we did that, it gave them a chance to use their speed up front,” Ruiz said. “It was a gamble but it was one I felt we had to take. We struggled in the midfield tonight and couldn’t get support to get the ball up. Cesar Vallin didn’t play and that hurt us a lot. We thought if our midfield could control the game we had a good chance to win.”
The Spartans out shot Dutchtown down the stretch but the Griffins’ defense stiffened. Fruge nearly added another goal when he drew Leodler out in the closing minutes but Kevin McDaniel blocked his shot.
