Nathan Tucker
nrtucker@lc.edu

 

Women’s game: L&C 11-0 John Wood

Tim Rooney’s side had yet another comfortable encounter on Wednesday, September 25, as the women’s soccer Trailblazers hosted the similarly named John Wood Blazers. The L&C women have largely been head and shoulders above their opposition on the pitch this season, winning their 7 regular season games prior to the day’s encounter by an absurd combined score of 60-3. 

Not for the first time this season, the Trailblazers were out in front early. Goals from Boitumelo Rabale, Candice Parziani, and Charly Smith within the first ten minutes of the match gave L&C an early comfortable lead. Rabale added another ten minutes later, which was immediately followed up with a deft finish in a scramble from Ella Kiely less than a minute afterward. Without much of a retort from the John Wood attack, the Trailblazers took a five goal lead into halftime. 

The goals kept flowing for L&C in the second half. Another quick three-goal flurry from the Trailblazers (from Rabale, Smith, and Kiely) put the game beyond all possible doubt, as John Wood couldn’t really form any rebuttal to the onslaught of Trailblazer offense. Again, like many women’s soccer skirmishes at Tim Rooney Stadium in recent memory, the last third of the match was trivial, more of a chance for the aforementioned head coach Tim Rooney to rest and rotate his lineup. The scoreboard stopped keeping score at 8-0, potentially out of courtesy to the guests, but the match ended 11-0 in favor of the home side, with Rabale and Charly Smith both netting hat tricks along the way. 

The convincing victory for Lewis and Clark adds another big win to their already impressive regular season. The women’s soccer side now boasts a goal differential of plus-68 in 8 games played, which puts the LC team among NJCAA leaders nationwide.  A quick turnaround for the Trailblazers sees them playing again in 24 hours time, on the road at St. Louis Community College. 

 

Men’s game: L&C 4-0 John Wood

After the L&C women dominated part one of the soccer doubleheader against the Blazers from John Wood Community College, the men’s team had quite an act to follow. While the Trailblazer men haven’t been as prolific in scoring as their female counterparts, they’ve had plenty of their own successes. After losing the first two matches of the season, they’ve torn off six straight wins, including one against nationally ranked Crowder College. In those six, they’re outscoring opponents 30-9, and are starting to look like a real threat coming down the stretch of the soccer season. 

Almost the inverse of the women’s game that started the day’s festivities, L&C couldn’t quite get a lot of the ball in the opening 15 minutes, as John Wood controlled the pace of the game early. Wood missed two golden opportunities to score around the 15 minute mark, and paid for it just moments later, as a dazzling bit of skill from L&C’s Reshaun Welkes pushed the Trailblazers out in front before they even really saw much of the ball. 

Wood looked for an answer, a well-struck volley by Giovanny Garcia dipped and swerved, but was saved by Trailblazer goalkeeper Christian Deans. Baden Beckles added an L&C goal of the season candidate with a long, curling effort that caught the John Wood defense off-guard, smashing it home as the defense was attempting to break out and start an attack. Trailblazer Striker Tony Bodul added a third for L&C, assisted in the box by the header of Isaac Frederick, which provided L&C with a comfortable halftime lead. 

That halftime lead proved to be all the Trailblazers would need, as John Wood efforts in the second half kept the home team on its toes but ultimately never poised too much of a challenge to Christian Deans’ net. For late insurance, forward Kofi Awuah added a tally of his own, the third Canadian to score for Lewis and Clark in the game. The 4-0 win is the seventh straight for Ryan Hodge’s side. They look to continue their hot streak this weekend, when they travel down Interstate 255 to Lindenwood-Belleville. 

For more information on both soccer teams and all Trailblazer sports, visit LC.edu/athletics.