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Saxony Lutheran soccer thrashes Fredericktown in dominant home showing
Saxony Lutheran boys’ soccer was at its fluent best on Tuesday evening and head coach Chris Crawford was more than satisfied.
Anchored by two-goal performances from Nick Chambless and Weston Jeter, the Crusaders pressed their offensive attack all game to salvage a dominant 5-0 victory over Fredericktown Tuesday, Sept. 10 at Saxony Lutheran High School.
“I thought we were a little bit more clinical around the goal,” Crawford said. “We still have some things that we need to work on in front of the goal, but overall, I thought we moved the ball well. We defended well. Overall, we played a pretty good game.”
In a game where Saxony showcased its dynamic offense from start to finish, Chambless broke the ice in the fourth minute when the sophomore chipped in a well-taken opener from the left of the post to pave the way for his team.
“It was not a great goal, but it started off good and we needed that,” Chambless said with a grin on his face. “We needed to keep the intensity up to set the mood.”
Jeter was a constant disruption to the Blackcat defense as well, exemplified by his two goals and one assist on the day. In a matter of five minutes, the junior forward netted back-to-back goals — one of which was a beautiful cross-net score that gave Saxony a commanding 3-0 advantage.
“He's a great player,” Crawford said. “He works hard and gets forward. He's very fast, so when he's able to find gaps, he's pretty dangerous. We did a good job of finding all our forwards today. I thought we were pretty unselfish in front of goal, and maybe a little bit too unselfish at times.”
One player who wasn’t too unselfish on the day was Jonathan Pfeiffer. The veteran senior, who is one of the key leaders of the team, whipped the Saxony fans into a frenzy in the 31st minute when he rocketed an angled shot from midfield that slipped right through goalie’s fingertips and added an insurance effort to hand Saxony a 4-0 lead.
The Crusaders had a 14-0 shot advantage over Fredericktown in the opening half.
Aside from a second Chambless goal in the 56th minute, the final half was far less active in the scoring department as Saxony slowed down its offensive tempo and played physical defense to keep the Blackcats at bay.
"We got a little bit relaxed in the second half, especially the first 20 minutes,” Crawford said. “That's something we can fix at practice. But overall, I'm happy with how we played.”
The Crusaders have now won 12 straight over Fredericktown dating back to 2018.
After losing star Luke Eggemeyer to graduation, Crawford’s squad is gradually finding its footing and continuing to mesh as a unit. Still, the coach leaves no doubt that his team is capable of improving each game down the stretch.
“Eggy was a big part of what we did for a long time, but they really saw his professionalism and how he how he prepared and how he trained,” Crawford said. “That really helped those incoming freshmen and sophomores, and even the juniors that are now seniors this year, know how we do things and know how you handle your business no matter what your record is, no matter what the score of the game is.
“We call it up with family, and we expect them to act like a family. And so, sometimes families argue but they always get back and they love each other and that's what we expect of our guys.”
Saxony Lutheran will return to its home field on Thursday, Sept. 12 when the team welcomes St. Pius X (Festus) to town for a 4 pm match.