Lannerd drives free kick over Pirates’ defense, carries Blue Devils to victory at Flinn Stadium

QUINCY — Quincy High School girls soccer coach Travis Dinkheller’s preachings in practice rattled around in Bri Lannerd’s head as she stood over a 30-yard free kick.

“I knew if I put it on frame it had a chance,” Lannerd said. “I tried to just give it a chance.”

She might have to do that more often.

With winds gusting as strong as 20 mph and temperatures dipping because of it, Lannerd took the weather out of the equation by drilling — not lofting — her free kick over a wall of Hannibal defenders and beyond the arms of Pirates freshman keeper Ava Turner for the lone goal with 21 minutes, 30 seconds remaining in a 1-0 victory at Flinn Stadium on Friday night.

Lannerd’s determined approach is the kind of free kick Dinkheller wants to see her take.

“Here’s the deal,” Dinkheller said. “We can’t score if it’s not on frame. You always have a chance if it’s on frame. So you drive it a little harder. Don’t worry about the wall, and if you have to, drive it through the wall. If they block it the first time, they might not want to the second time.

“So drive it. And she drove it and she hit it well. She put it on frame and that was the key.”

The wall wasn’t a factor.

“That wall, it was a really well built wall,” Lannerd said. “But I went over it.”

And over Turner, too. The Blue Devils had multiple opportunities to beat Turner playing high off the goalline, but those shots floated high and wide or got caught up in the wind because they weren’t hit with pace.

“I was telling (Lannerd) the other day at practice, ‘You have to stop floating balls. You have to start driving them,’” Dinkheller said. “A little less loft, a little more drive to it. She hit that one really well.”

It finally broke the scoreless tie in what had been a physical battle with every 50/50 ball and every run being contested.

“They’re a physical team and it was a physical game, which I kind of expected,” Dinkheller said. “We’re a physical team, too. I don’t want our girls to back down from situations, but I also want them to stay composed when the time is right. Be composed for those moments to be able to take advantage of those things.”

Four minutes after Lannerd scored, the Blue Devils (2-1) caught another break.

Hannibal defensive midfielder Katie Greening was issued a red card for her retaliation over some physical play near the sideline in front of the QHS bench. The Blue Devils’ Taylor Routh received a yellow card on the play.

Although it gave the Blue Devils a man advantage, they weren’t able to capitalize as they continue to struggle in the attacking third to finish.

Dinkheller realizes that has to change.

“We’re not only prepping to win this game and next Tuesday’s conference game and so on,” Dinkheller said. “We’re also prepping for an Edwardsville, a Collinsville, a Granite City. Playing good teams is only going to help us get better. If we start to tweak those little things up top, we run away with some games.”

The Blue Devils have a strong belief they can make that happen.

“We play as a team,” Lannerd said. “Sure, we yell at each other sometimes, but at the end of the day, we’re motivating each other and we’re always there for each other. No matter what happens, we always have each other’s back.”