With a sense of calmness and clear direction, Loyola Academy Girls Soccer thrashed Ignatius on Friday 3-0.

Ramblers soccer has multiple future college players, and this talent, most notably from midfielder Grace Elhert (Wash U commit) and centerback Eva Pattinson (Iowa commit) was on full display.

Scoring started early, just six minutes into the game. Elhert received the ball in the midfield, beating a defender before promptly finding Kaitlyn Kurtz making a darting run to the endline. Kurtz then passed it across the top of the box, assisting captain and fellow senior Kendall Beil who hit it first time into the bottom right corner.

The game seemed to continue on in this pattern for all eighty minutes, Loyola would possess the ball in the back, before Pattinson or Ellie Seely would find an open midfielder making a threatening run inside. From there they would look to get it out wide either to an outside back or wing. This pattern of play certainly wasn’t a fluke or accident.

Justin Dunn, who was the head coach of boys soccer in the fall and has taken a new roll
assisting the girls team, said “we’ve really been working on getting our outside backs involved in the attacks,” adding, “these overlapping runs from the defense going forward has really given a new level to our game.”

However, there is no denying the risk involved in using your outside backs as attackers, as shown by the 18th minute when a 1v1 happened as a direct result of such tactics. Ignatius won the ball after Emily Pakarski made a run up the field from the left back position, it was then played into open space where the Ignatius forward found herself alone against Pattinson.

However, being the confident player she is, Pattinson didn’t seem to even sweat as she swiftly put a shoulder into the Ignatius forward, and passed the ball back to her keeper.

Molly Sipe, who unfortunately sustained a knee injury in the club season and is out for the rest of the season commented on this defensive dominance, saying “I don’t even know if they [Ignatius] had a real shot on goal,” further noting that “they definitely didn’t put together more than six consecutive passes.”

Just minutes before the half time whistle, Loyola thought they doubled their lead following a Pattinson freekick from 45 yards out that was fumbled by the Ignatius goalie and knocked in. But, to the dismay of the Ramblers, it got called offside, and the half ended 1-0.

The second half began as the first half ended, with Loyola keeping the ball in the Ignatius half, and never letting up. Fifteen minutes in, and Elhert got a well deserved goal, receiving the ball right by the penalty spot, wiggling through three defenders, and then passing it into the side netting of the goal.

Although both of Loyola’s goals up to this point came from open play, corner kicks were clearly a Rambler strong suit. Just five minutes after the Elhert goal, a Lauren Correy corner connected perfectly with Seeley’s head, but disappointingly went off the crossbar and out of bounds for an Ignatius freekick.

With seven minutes left, Loyola won another corner kick. Correy lined up and crossed it in. The Ignatius goalkeeper got to it first, punching it out, but it wasn’t enough. Isabella Guzman received the clearance some twenty five yards out, took a touch, then curled it into the upper left corner. The fans went wild, and it was truly a perfect ending to a textbook Rambler win.