LEHIGHTON — Lehighton was looking for a bounce-back win following a loss to Pine Grove.
The Indians didn’t just beat Tamaqua on Monday, they dominated.
Rajah Quinones had a hat trick, her first of the season, while Morgan Yurasits added two goals during Lehighton’s 7-1 victory over the Blue Raiders in a Schuylkill League Division I contest.
The Indians (5-2, 2-2 D-I) lost to the Cardinals 6-3 last Thursday and wasted no time putting that defeat behind them.
Lehighton was the more aggressive, and faster, team from the start. The Indians put the game away with first-half goals from Quinones (12th minute), Lauren Edsall (22nd), Allison Andrew (25th) and Yurasits (28th).
Quinones then scored two more times in the second half in the 55th and 65th minutes, while Yurasits scored her second during the 62nd to put an exclamation point on the victory.
Lehighton held a 26-6 advantage in shots on goal.
“They played as a good team today,” Indians coach Rich Emmert said. “Their passing was on, their communication was on, they did exactly what they were supposed to do.”
The Indians haven’t had much trouble scoring this season and came into Monday averaging 5.2 goals per game. That trend continued against Tamaqua.
The defensive performance was also Lehighton’s best of the season as the only goal by the Raiders (2-6, 1-3 D-I) came on a penalty kick by Morgan Boyle during the 68th minute that set the final.
Emmert made some changes Monday, putting freshman Julia Frey in goal and inserting Jada White into Frey’s spot on defense. White joined Lauren House and Sydney Gandy to form a speedy back line.
“Those three have to be the fastest that I have on the team, so if they do get the breakaway, we are going to be the recovery,” Emmert said.
Tamaqua coach Clem McCarroll was perplexed with the Raiders performance.
Tamaqua gave up early goals to Pottsville last Thursday but played solid soccer for 78 minutes during a 2-0 loss. The Raiders then beat Northern Lehigh 4-1 on Saturday.
“I thought it was going to be a close game, one goal here or there,” McCarroll said. “We were just flat. It was hard to watch in the first half. We just didn’t win any balls. It was just fundamental, basic things we didn’t do. It was terrible.”
Lehighton peppered Tamaqua keeper Carly Sassaman, who finished the game with 19 saves, with 10 shots on goal in the first half.
Sassaman saved the first four, but Quinones struck on the fifth when she got behind the Raiders’ defense and beat Sassaman with a hard shot from about 10 yards out.
Andrew set up the Indians’ second goal on a corner kick that was sent in to the far post and headed in by Edsall. Andrew’s goal was from 25 yards out and went over Sassaman’s head and into the net.
Yurasits’ goal, and the final by Lehighton of the first half, was also on a long-range shot. This one was from around 30 yards away from the wing and sailed over the head of Sassaman.
Tamaqua had its share of runs at the Indians’ goal during what was a fast-paced first half, but it couldn’t get much of a sustained attack going.
“We had opportunities early on,” McCarroll said. “Instead of just passing it to each other, everybody was just trying to do their own, individual thing instead of using each other, building some momentum and passing, getting two or three passes in a row.
“We had a couple of players try to take it to the goal themselves, but they were just too quick. They shut it down.”
Game Summary
Tam (2-6, 1-3) 0 1 — 1 Leh (5-2, 2-2) 4 3 — 7
Leh — Quinones, 11:57
Leh — Edsall (Andrew), 21:33
Leh — Andrew, 24:11
Leh — Yurasits, 27:01
Leh — Quinones, 54:58
Leh — Yurasits, 61:10
Leh — Quinones, 64:12
Tam — Boyle (penalty kick), 67:31
Shots on goal: Tamaqua 6, Lehighton 26. Corner kicks: Tamaqua 2, Lehighton 5. Saves: Tamaqua (Sassaman) 19, Lehighton (Frey) 5.
JV Score: Tamaqua 2-0