Not only did Emporia High freshman Jordan Sosa reap the benefits of two assists for goals in the first half of Emporia High’s Regional soccer game against Elyria Christian Monday night, she returned the favor as well, dishing out three assists of her own in Emporia’s 10-0 mercy-ruled victory over Elyria at TRYSA.
The two assists to Sosa, which came from Jessica Decker in the 19th and 31st minutes, and Sosa’s three assists, which went to Ashley Leihsing in the 12th minute, to Decker in the 60th minute and to Kylie White in the 61st minute, all were part of a 10-assist night for the Lady Spartans, as all 10 of Emporia’s scores were the products of assists.
“I feel really good about giving out some good assists and setting some people up for really good shots,” Sosa said. “That feels really good to help out like that.”
Sosa’s contributions, both in the form of assists and goals, along with senior Jessica Muckenthaler scoring three straight goals in the second half to end the game, helped the Lady Spartans (8-8) advance into the second round of Regional play.
The mercy-ruled victory over Elyria Christian (5-7), a Class 1A school out of McPherson, was a welcome sight for EHS coach John Decker, who wanted to see his squad work more as a team with postseason play beginning. Not only did the Lady Spartans record 10 assists, but EHS also out-shot the Eagles by a dominating margin, recording 26 shots on goal compared to none for Elyria.
“We got some good stuff out of it,” EHS coach John Decker said. “We don’t have girls that are just so fast and phenomenal that they’re going to take people all the time one-on-one.
“I’ve always said the assist is as important if not more important as the goal because you have to not only have yourself involved in the play but you have to see someone else and see that advantage. I just love it when we get assists.”
It took a while for Emporia to break open the scoring, as the only EHS score in the game’s first 18 minutes came when Ashley Leihsing put the ball into the right corner of the net after Sosa had tried to knock in a shot with her head.
Sosa then got the first of her two goals in the 19th minute when she received a pass from Decker and fired a shot into the right corner to make it 2-0. Sosa scored again in the 31st minute off another pass from Decker to make it 3-0, which would remain the score until halftime.
The Lady Spartans then opened the floodgates in the second half.
Off a pass from Elisha Schultz, Decker scored on a header that bounced off the left goal post and into the net to make it 4-0 in the 46th minute.
Megan Landwehr got in the scoring act when she took a pass from Muckenthaler, faked out the goalkeeper left and then went right with the ball to score to make it 5-0.
Sosa then got back-to-back assists within a minute of each other, as the first went to Decker while the second went to White that made it 7-0 and gave EHS a realistic shot at ending the game early.
Muckenthaler accomplished that with a trio of goals late, all within 3 minutes of each other — the first on a lob shot over Penner’s head from Chelsea Pearson, the second on a breakaway off a pass from Decker, and the third and game-ending score off a pass from Schultz, which Muckenthaler knocked past Penner when Penner came out away from the goal.
“I just got a lot of really good passes,” Muckenthaler said. “It was good teamwork tonight.”
The offensive flurry in the second half was a pleasing sight for John Decker, as he saw his team execute the things he talked about at halftime.
“The girls went out after halftime and applied our adjustments,” he said. “If you can see some things in the first half, and then talk about it at halftime and then go apply it, it’s a good night.”
Emporia will travel to Topeka tonight to face Shawnee Heights, a team the Lady Spartans lost to at home, 3-0, earlier this year. As of late, the Lady Spartans have fared well against teams that have beaten Heights, namely Manhattan and Blue Valley, which gives EHS reason to believe it can defeat the Lady Thunderbirds.
“I told them (the team) that they have to be confident that they can go in there and win,” Decker said. “I think we’re two fairly even teams. We know we can knock in the goals, we just need to keep our mental strength about us.”
Monday at Emporia
Emporia 10, Elyria Christian 0
Elyria 0 0 — 0
Emporia 3 7 — 10
First Half
Emp — Ashley Leihsing (assist from Jordan Sosa), 12th minute
Emp — Sosa (assist from Jessica Decker), 19th minute
Emp — Sosa (assist from Decker), 31st minute
Second Half
Emp — Decker (assist from Elisha Schultz), 46th minute
Emp — Megan Landwehr (assist from Jessica Muckenthaler), 50th minute
Emp — Decker (assist from Sosa), 60th minute
Emp — Kylie White (assist from Sosa), 61st minute
Emp — Muckenthaler (assist from Chelsea Pearson), 71st minute
Emp — Muckenthaler (assist from Decker), 73rd minute
Emp — Muckenthaler (assist from Schultz), 34th minute
Shots on goal — Elyria 0, Emporia 26. Saves — Elyria: Penner 16. Emporia: Nuessen 0. Corner kicks — Elyria 0, Emporia 7. Total fouls — Elyria 6, Emporia 7.