The Tribe veritably cut its football field to a quarter of its size, maintaining possession in Bulldogs territory for the majority of the first half. Anderson created space to operate its offense through crisp and sharp passes with senior midfielder Cristian Hernandez leading the charge. Eight minutes into the game, Hernandez fed Rodriguez an assist inside the box to give the Tribe a 1-0 lead.
“We needed to clear the ball,” Lapel coach Drew Beahm said. “We needed to get it up to our forwards, but we weren’t able to pull off what we needed to do.”
Lapel struggled to clear the ball out more than 20 yards away from its own goal in the first half. A costly mistake late in the first half came back to haunt the Bulldogs as goalie Cody Baker intended to clear the ball out with the game clock winding down. Rodriguez trekked back, fought for the loose ball with Lapel’s back line, secured the interception and sent in a strike from 20 yards out to beat the buzzer and give the Tribe a 2-0 lead before halftime.
“Well, they took it wide, and the defender started shifting on their side, so I saw the space and took my chance,” Rodriguez said. “Luckily, my midfielder saw me, and I was able to get the ball and finish it.”
Beahm met Baker just two weeks ago before the start of school. He mentioned Baker was “unbelievable” after securing 30 saves during Thursday’s loss. Through Lapel’s first two games, Baker has collected 52 saves.
Rodriguez sealed the victory and finished the trifecta by freeing himself on a breakaway in the 75th minute. With six goals netted through two games, he credited Anderson’s midfielders as the main reason to his early season success.
“We are just finding ways to get him the ball in the right situations,” Anderson coach Chris Spolyar said. “He is learning how to make those runs. He is learning how to get in dangerous spots.”
The Tribe pounced with an aggressive attack to begin the second half, and sophomore David Lopez-Ortiz secured a rebound inside the box to score his first varsity goal and increase Anderson’s lead to 3-0 in the 49th minute. Anderson midfielder Sebastian Burnel sent a cross inside the box, and freshman Carter Spolyar, son of Chris, delivered a strike through the back of the net to extend Anderson’s lead to 4-0. Spolyar remained persistent to set up senior forward Fortune Gitahi, who scored the Tribe’s fifth goal from point-blank range in the 63rd minute.
“A lot of that (possession) is by design,” Spolyar said. “That is what we have worked on this summer is just going in twos and threes. Soccer may have 11 players on the field, but it’s won by two-, three- and four-guy combinations throughout. That’s where we are starting to really get a good feel is being able to move the ball, and that allows us to step up and shorten the field.”
Anderson attempted 35 shots on goal compared to just one despairing hail mary for Lapel senior Cas Veldhuis on a free-kick from 40 yards out. Veldhuis exited the game and did not return after his third collision, bumping knees for a loose ball inside the box during Lapel’s best opportunity to score.
After defeating its first two opponents by a combined score of 13-0, Anderson will face its biggest test Saturday as the Tribe hosts Lafayette Jeff at noon.
This article appeared in The Herald Bulletin.