Controlling possession and pace enables Blue Devils to open season with WB6 victory

QUINCY — Quincy High School girls soccer coach Travis Dinkheller expected his team to be able to control possession and pace of play based on everything he’d seen throughout the preseason.

Still, he remained curious how it would look against Western Big 6 Conference opponent.

Ten minutes into Tuesday night’s season opener against Moline at Flinn Stadium, he had his answer.

“I looked at (assistant coach Saylor Drawe) and said, ‘They haven’t really touched the ball,’” Dinkheller said. “It was a clinic moving the ball back and forth. We’d hit a probing ball in and they’d clear it out and we’d pick up the loose ball and swing it around.”

Ultimately, it led to success. Breighlyn Thomas scored in the 12th minute and Bri Lannerd followed with a hat trick as the Blue Devils posted a 4-0 victory.

“We looked pretty darn good,” Dinkheller said. “We moved the ball pretty well.”

The magnitude of the moment didn’t overwhelm the Blue Devils either.

“It’s an easy one to get overhyped for since it’s a conference game in the season opener against a team that’s traditionally good,” Dinkheller said. “I thought we handled it great.”

Thomas scored the opening goal off a Kenzie O’Brien assist, while Rian Moore set up the first of Lannerd’s three goals in the 29th minute as the Blue Devils took a 2-0 lead to halftime. Lannered scored seven minutes into the second half as she redirected a Taylor Routh cross, and her final goal came off another Moore assist.

Taylor Fohey recorded the shutout as the Blue Devils outshot the Maroons 18-4.

“We played physical, but not to the level we got any cards,” Dinkheller said. “We were aggressive and won a lot of balls, which is what we wanted to see.”