Blue Devils get tough stretch started right, grind out one-goal victory against Pirates

QUINCY — Knowing how taxing a five-games-in-five-days stretch will be, especially when two of those are rivalry games, the Quincy High School girls soccer team couldn’t afford to start things on the wrong foot.

Sydney Welsh didn’t let that happen.

The sophomore midfielder put herself in the right spot at the right time to redirect Bri Lannerd’s header into the net in the 20th minute Friday night, giving the Blue Devils the upperhand in a 2-1 victory over Hannibal at Flinn Stadium on the first night of the QHS Tournament.

“It’s something we work on a lot, just running in front of the goalie,” Welsh said. “Bri’s a great header. I knew she was going to head it down. I just did my job in front of the goalie and tapped it in. I saw the ball in the air and saw the way she was looking at it, so I just followed it and it worked out well.”

Welsh’s goal came off a Rian Moore corner kick won because of the relentless pressure the Blue Devils applied. Quincy outshot Hannibal 20-3 and had nine corner kicks, including four in succession during the second half.

“We wanted to make sure we came out and were ready to give a tackle and win the 50-50 balls and bring a lot of energy,” Welsh said.

It resulted in a two-goal lead eight minutes into the second half when Taylor Routh converted a Moore assist after the Blue Devils (2-0) made a run up the right wing and swung the ball into a dangerous area.

“We had a lot of good possession and we found feet really well,” QHS wing defender Mariah Crist said. “Whenever we could look long, we played the long ball and we found success a lot of times.”

It’s because those long balls were played with purpose.

“I like the way we connected,” Welsh said. “I thought we looked really long a lot of the time, and we were following and making the runs. Even if we weren’t scoring every time, we made the runs and got there and put pressure on their defense.”

The movement on and off the ball made it possible.

“We were pinging the ball to each other,” Quincy coach Travis Dinkheller said.

Still, Hannibal (1-1) made things interesting by fighting to apply pressure up top. With less than two minutes remaining in regulation, Pirates sophomore Abbie Martin took advantage of a 1-on-1 situation with a defender, got behind the back line and scored to cut the deficit in half.

It left the Blue Devils frustrated despite the victory.

“I told them at the end of the game, ‘Yes, we gave up a goal. Yes, be angry about it. Yes, we don’t want to make that mistake later in the season,’” Dinkheller said. “But I reminded them we’re two games in. We’re figuring out rotations. We’re trying to see who can slide in to this spot, how can we rest this person, all those things.

“There’s no way you can play every minute of every game. We have to continue to work on our rotations and our subbing patterns and make ourselves better. As a coach, I’m still trying to figure out what little things to tweak to bring them a different level of energy.”

For 68 of the 70 minutes, no one will quibble over the energy or execution.

“We definitely have each other’s backs, especially going against a fast player like Abbie Martin,” Crist said. “We shift and stagger so we can deal with a fast player. I think we covered each other very well tonight.”

With two games scheduled Saturday, a home game Monday against Quincy Notre Dame and a home game Tuesday against United Township, the Blue Devils needed to know they can work together to make success happen.

“I think we’re on a good rhythm and we’re ready to go hard,” Crist said.