PHOTOS
Catholic started off the match by commanding the ball on its side of the field. Monett’s defense was able to hold strong for the first 14 minutes, deflecting multiple strike attempts. Catholic finally broke through with the first goal of the game in the 25th minute.
After the first goal, Monett was able to orchestrate a few breakaway efforts to move the ball to their side of the field. All of these efforts were cut short before the Cubs were able to take a good shot on goal.
Catholic followed up with another goal in the 19th minute from Reilly Harbach off of an assist from Ryan Randell.
Monett was able to move the ball to their side of the field for the second time in the first-half in the 11th minute, but the effort was turned away and the ball was cleared back to the Irish.
Monett keeper David Garcia made an excellent save in the 3rd minute to prevent the deficit from expanding any further before the half.
Catholic struck quickly in the second-half with a goal from Captain Mitch Moncada in the 34th minute to make it 3-0. This was followed up with a goal from Ryan Randell off of a corner kick in the 26th.
The game became increasingly physical as the second-half progressed. This peaked in the 19th minute when Jovany Serrano of Monett got tangled up with a Catholic attacker and received a yellow card. Josh Wegenka of Catholic received a yellow card in the 18th minute when competing for position with a Monett defender.
Monett made many good efforts to get on the board, but were just unable to coordinate an organized attack.
Joe Tonjuk scored the fifth goal of the night for the Irish off of a penalty kick in with four minutes to go. Dan Richardson capped off the scoring with a goal from roughly 30 yards out with five seconds left in the match.
Catholic Head coach Tom Guinn credited the successful game strategy of his team to scouting and preparation.
“We knew that it would be a fast field and that the ball would bounce quite a bit, so our goal was to keep the ball controlled and on the ground…we used lots of possession, lots of quick passes, a lot of one and two touch,” said Guinn.
Coach Guinn explained that halftime adjustments were key to the increased offense in the second-half.
“I encouraged them to get a little more creative in the offensive-third. We were doing a good job in the middle-third and defensive-third, we just needed to be more creative in possessing the ball near the goal,” said Guinn.
Catholic advances to play Sacred Heart on Saturday.
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