Second-half surge carries Blue Devils to three-goal victory in crosstown showdown

QUINCY — Travis Dinkheller is saving his fire-and-brimstone speech for another day, but the passionate plea the Quincy High School girls soccer coach made at halftime Monday night resonated with his players.

“His message was very clear,” junior midfielder Bri Lannerd said. “We needed to show up in the second half.”

The Blue Devils did more than that.

They attacked.

Inspired by the coaching staff’s demands and infuriated by their own lack of scoring — QHS had gone 180 consecutive minutes without a goal when the crosstown showdown with Quincy Notre Dame reached halftime scoreless — the Blue Devils imposed their will during the first 15 minutes of the second half.

Taylor Routh scored less than seven minutes into the half and Kenzie O’Brien doubled the advantage three minutes later, propelling the Blue Devils to a 4-1 victory at Flinn Stadium. It is the first time since 1998 QHS has won the first of two regular-season meetings with QND.

The teams square off again next Monday at Advance Physical Therapy Field.

“The momentum change was huge,” O’Brien said. “All of us wanted to get more. All of us wanted to get after it and show we’re here to win.”

The Blue Devils (3-0-2) started the second half with four scoring chances in the first six minutes, including Breighlyn Thomas running onto a ball played from the midfield and sliding her shot just wide of the post. Less than 40 seconds after that, Lannerd won a header off a QND goal kick with Rian Moore taking possession and playing the ball into the box.

O’Brien’s physical run onto the ball led to a collision between her, QND defender Avery Keck and QND goalkeeper Aly Young, which let the ball pop free. Routh filled in behind and buried her shot into the open net for the first goal.

“We were struggling in the beginning, but we started trusting each other more as the game went on,” the sophomore forward said. “Following that play up with that goal gave us the momentum to keep going and work harder.”

Routh set up O’Brien’s goal, taking a pass from midfielder Sydney Welsh and slipping a pass through a defensive crease where O’Brien ran onto it, drew Young off the goalline and slotted her shot into the far netting while getting knocked down.

“There are times we tackle hard in the middle and get after it, but when we get in the final third, we have to get hungry,” Dinkheller said. “I really like what we did. We hit the ball long. We got in on the end. We had some great touches. We really got aggressive.”

It flipped the game entirely.

A rather stagnant first half featured the Blue Devils controlling the pace of play but the Raiders coming away with the best scoring chance. Lia Quintero’s header off a cross from Ellie Barnes hit the crossbar, the closest either team came to scoring the first 40 minutes.

“What I told the kids after the game was if we take advantage of our scoring situations it’s a different game,” QND coach Mark Longo said. “I harp on that so much because what if that’s the sectional final and we don’t find ways to finish.

“Those aren’t excuses because (QHS) was better today. As much as they hate losing to us, we hate it just as bad. We’ll regroup.”

The Raiders (5-2-1) made it interesting when sophomore forward Makayla Patton ran down a long ball and beat the QHS defense for a goal and 2-1 deficit with nine minutes remaining in regulation. Just 55 seconds later, Moore swung a corner kick into the box and Lannerd headed it home to regain the Blue Devils’ two-goal lead.

“We always talk about the momentum shifts, and you never want it to be going against you,” Lannerd said. “People always say it’s the next five minutes that matters after you concede or anything bad happens. That goal came from our team working together, earning a corner and Rian playing a great ball. I just happened to be on the end of it.”

Routh finished off the Raiders by scoring her second goal with a little more than three minutes to play.

“I love the bond we have because that gets us where we need to be and it could be anyone scoring because we’re all in this together,” Routh said.

Dinkheller provided the nudge needed to get everyone playing at the same intensity level.

“He knows our potential and knows where we are and where we stand,” Routh said. “I think in the second half we lived up to that and played really well as a team.”