Bryn Waters couldn't remember who assisted on her goals.
That's because there were so many good passes and Waters scored three times to lead the Brainerd Warriors to a 5-0 Central Lakes Conference victory over St. Cloud Apollo at Adamson Field in Brainerd.
Brainerd's offense dissected Apollo's defense for 21 shots on goal. Along with the five that went in, two other shots hit the crossbar.
The constant offensive bombardment made things a little boring for Warrior keeper Megan Tschida, who needed just two saves to record her second straight shutout and help Brainerd improve to 3-1-1.
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Warriors 5, Willmar 0
- Key: Bryn Waters scored three times in Warrior win
- Conf: Brd 2-0-1, SCA 1-1
- Overall: Brd 3-1-1, SCA 3-2
- Next: Brainerd at Fergus Falls 6 p.m. Thursday
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"Our first couple of games, really I thought we played fairly well, even losing big that first game. I didn't think we played that poorly," said Warrior coach Grant Gmeinder. "It was just little things that we didn't do well and that's why we didn't get the results we wanted in those first two games.
"A lot of it was that pressure and marking up on girls and not giving them the time and space to turn and go at us. Megan was bored in goal most of the night and that's a tribute to our team and how well they pressured. It has nothing to do with the competition we were playing. I thought Apollo had a decent team. They had some really, really fast players up on top. We just pressured them hard and didn't give them the chances to get in an offensive flow."
Brainerd had plenty of chances. The points started piling up 6:57 into the contest when Angela Lacy sliced and diced through Apollo's defense to score the first goal unassisted.
Then it was Waters' turn to register the hat trick. Her first goal came at 10:05 and was assisted by Hannah Johnson on a crossing pass. After a brief discussion with a teammate, Waters finally remembered how she scored her first two goals.
"Hannah crossed it in and I just took care of it," said Waters about her first goal. "On the second, I think it went Hannah to Angela to me. I don't remember."
Waters scored less than three minutes later on a Lacy assist to give Brainerd a 3-0 halftime edge.
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Regan McElfresh assisted Waters' third goal at 43:59.
"We've improved our passing a lot," said Waters. "We're working together better, too. We're pretty confident. Our practices have been good."
McElfresh capped off the scoring by booting a free kick over an Apollo wall under the cross bar and around the Eagles' goalie. It was reminiscent of her brother Logan's efforts during last year's football season as Brainerd's field goal kicker. McElfresh's shot covered about 25 yards.
"Our last few games we've dominated the ball," said Gmeinder. "We've had the ball in the attacking third, but we haven't had a ton of quality chances. We scored enough to win, but getting five goals and getting four or five really good quality chances was good to see.
"The girls aren't trying to do it on their own. The goals that we scored most were off of great passes. The finishes were awesome, too, but most of them were inside the 6-yard box. They're starting to see it."
Brainerd's unbeaten streak moves to four games. Apollo, which racked up an 18-0 season-opening onslaught on Rocori, dropped to 3-2 on the season.
Apollo 0 0 - 0
Warriors 3 2 - 5
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First half: Brd-Angela Lacy 6:57; Brd-Bryn Waters (Hannah Johnson) 10:05; Brd-Waters (Lacy) 12:58
Second half: Brd-Waters (Regan McElfresh) 43:59; Brd-McElfresh (free kick) 70:33
Shots on goal: Brd 11 10 - 21; SCA 2 0 - 2
Goalkeepers: Brd-Megan Tschida (2 saves); SCA-Anna Carlson (16 saves)
