Manual girls soccer defeated Eastern High School 7-1 in their senior night game on Thursday, Oct. 9.
As a usual part of every senior night, all eight seniors played in the first half, including Chauntasia Bender (#12), Selina Dabbagh (#9), Kyla Drozt (#27), Olivia Holt (#28), Nivedita Khandkar (#24), Molly Schroering (#22), Devin Spratt (#20) and Madison Zimmer (#19). The remaining three in the lineup included sophomores Emily Hause (#4), Lindsey Bobb (#17) and Emina Ekic (#10).
“I think we did well without our starting lineup,” Ekic said. “We were kinda bad the first half because we couldn’t pass it around, but we got better throughout the game.”
Manual scored four goals all within the first 25 minutes of play. Spratt scored first in the game, followed by an Eastern goal on keeper Schroering. The Crimsons responded shortly after when Zimmer found Ekic for a second goal. Bobb found Ekic, who, in turn, headshot the ball in for her second consecutive goal in the game. Whitfield found Holt in the last 15 minutes of the first to bring Manual to a 4-1 lead at the half.
The team celebrated their senior night during halftime. The announcer called each senior to walk through a tunnel of teammates to the center of the field, where each posed for a photo under the senior night arch with family members, 11-year Head Coach Rick Underwood and Principal Jerry Mayes.
As the celebration came to a close, Manual got ready for the second half. Underclassmen players replaced all eight seniors on the field, adding Hannah Vandermeer (11, #23), Madilyn Hord (10, #16), freshman keeper Delayna Holman (#13), Ophelia Vedder (11, #21), Emily Martin (10, #8), Ann Boyer (10, #18), Allison Whitfield (11, #2) and Emma Overstreet (11, #14).
Vedder brought the Crimsons to a 4-1 lead at the start of the second. Hord scored her first goal of the season shortly after and Whitfield scored the last goal with three minutes left in the game.
“They were probably more focused on senior night than the actual game, but given that they really played well,” Underwood said. “Some of the seniors have not gotten that much playing time in the season, but they all played fine tonight.”
