Two games in and two wins for Seth Lehman's Cumberland Valley girls' soccer team and after speaking with the Eagles' skipper after both games, his assessment of his talented side's play was night and day.
Lehman was fairly critical of CV's play after Saturday's opening season victory and that was against defending Class AAA champ Neshaminy ... on the road.
Long story short, Lehman felt his team lacked consistent possession against the Redskins and they were a little too loose on the defensive.
He could find little, if any, fault in Tuesday's outing at Crossroads Middle School, a 4-1 win over Red Land. The only thing that slowed down the Eagles in the first half was a quick-hitting thunderstorm that slammed into Lewisberry with 4:50 left in the first half. CV was leading 3-0 at the time.
"We changed a few of our formations [from Saturday's game]," Lehman said.
"But the biggest thing for us is that we were able to keep possession for longer stretches and when we do that, we can make a lot of things happen and create a ton of chaos."
Here are some other notes and thoughts from Tuesday's game:
- With sophomore Cashlin Copley playing a larger role in the offense this season, the Eagles now have three top scoring threats in Copley, Jen Falconer and Taylor Sneidman. Those three players on the field together will make most team's defenders cringe.
- In addition to Copley, several other underclassmen made contributions in Tuesday's win. Devan Noll and Deanna Laubach saw plenty of action as did freshmen Jaimie McInroy and Alyssa Neast.
- Another sophomore, defender Sarah Truong, was charged with marking Red Land senior striker and Florida recruit Bryce Watts. Truong did a solid job most of the afternoon and had plenty of support from the sweeper to keep Watts from turning the corner.
- Speaking of Watts, it was great to see her back on the field after missing all of last year's high school season with a torn ACL. She got stronger as the game wore on and scored Red Land's lone goal. If you give her space and let her turn, it's game over.
- Cumberland Valley junior defender Emily Keitel came out of the game favoring her right leg at the 15:21 mark. Lehman thought it might be a hip flexor, but he also said he wasn't sure. "I just pray she's okay and it's nothing serious," Lehman said.
- Despite the lopsided loss, Red Land should still be fine in the long run. You don't lose the kind of experience it lost in the back and in the midfield and expect to not miss a beat. The Patriots started slow last year and went on to reach the 3-AAA semifinals and the state playoffs. Senior Rachel Fox played admirably between the post with an eight-save effort.