Scoring almost at will had to have been the most fun part. But the best part? Probably that Emporia High’s soccer team bought itself a valuable 14 minutes worth of extra rest.
The sixth-seeded Spartans opened Regional play on Monday at TRYSA by overwhelming an opponent, in 11th-seeded Elyria Christian, that didn’t belong on the same field. With two goals and four assists from Emily Burris leading the way, plus two goals apiece from Rachelle VanGundy and Jordan Sosa, the normally offensively challenged Spartans ended their night’s work early with a 10-0 mercy-rule victory. The game-ending goal by Brooke Douglas came with 13:58 left on the clock, which should leave Emporia (8-8-1) relatively fresh for tonight’s Regional semifinal trip to Salina Central.
“It helps us rest our legs, and Salina didn’t have a game tonight,” VanGundy said. “So just taking that little extra break is gonna help.”
Burris was in the middle of everything throughout, using speed and ball skills far superior to anyone ECS sent to stop her. She scored the game’s first two goals 40 seconds apart, the first unassisted, the second off a pass from Sosa. She later fed Tania Morales for a goal to make it 5-0 with 2:51 left, then grounded a cross to Sosa for a score just 57 seconds later to give EHS a 6-0 halftime lead at the break.
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