By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
Maryville and Bishop LeBlond have been the class of the field in the Midland Empire Conference in boys' soccer this season.
When the two got together for a match, the Spoofhounds separated themselves from the Eagles shortly after it started.
Maryville (7-2) scored two goals within the first 2:34 at Eagle Stadium and came away with a 5-0 win Thursday - the fifth straight win and third consecutive shutout victory for the Spoofhounds.
"They played an excellent game," LeBlond coach Chad Thompson said of Maryville. "We fell short and once we fell short, we fell a little shorter."
Maryville's Kason Teale got the scoring started with a header into the goal just 91 seconds into the match with an assist from Truett Haer. Just 63 seconds after that, Quinn Pettlon scored from long distance to give the Spoofounds a 2-0 advantage less than three minutes in.
"That kind of changes the entire mindset of everything we try to do," Thompson said of the early deficit. "Kind of try to play the long ball instead of passing the ball. Got beat by a really good team today."
LeBlond (9-2) went on the defensive after that and kept the Hounds off the board for awhile, but Haer found the back of the net with 1:07 left in the first half, thanks to a strong cross from Tuan Jacobson.
Maryville led 3-0 at the break.
LeBlond had a handful of chances offensively especially in the first half, getting through Maryville's backline, but the Eagles were unable to finish once they got in the Spoofhounds' goalie box.
The Eagles finished with three shots-on-goal, while Maryville had 12.
"What (Maryville) was doing really great was keeping pressure (on the LeBlond goal)," Thompson noted. "Off of their defense. Like I said, they're a really good team and we got beat."
LeBlond keeper Cole Stevenson had a busy, and impressive day, finishing with seven saves, including several diving and high jumping stops to keep the game within a reasonable margin for some time.
After nearly 30 scoreless minutes of play in the second half, Maryville essentially put the match away with a goal from Boyd Gallaher to make it 4-0 with 10:58 remaining.
The Hounds also got late insurance with a midrange goal from Teale, his second of the match, to make it a 5-0 margin with 3:49 to play.
The loss snaps a six-game win streak for LeBlond, who still has the best record in Class 2 District 8.
The Eagles are back home on Oct. 5 to host Kansas City Lutheran. With just four regular season games remaining, LeBlond hopes to finish strong and have another deep postseason run - just like they've done the last couple of seasons.
"We'll just hit the fields," Thompson said. "We'll be out here practicing every day that we don't play. So, that's about what the rest of the season is."
Maryville is home to Benton on Oct. 4.
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