The Manual boys’ soccer team crushed Collins 6-1 on Tuesday night thanks to a strong Crimson defense. The Collins offense very rarely got past the back four to put a shot on goal, and when they did, goalie Andrew Hagan (12, #1) made sure that the ball did not get past him.  Manual’s defense operated on a series of instructions from Hagan while utilizing the sidelines to force Collins players out of bounds, and cutting to and away from the ball to create more passing lanes.

“Our defense has been playing well the last several games. The back four and Andrew are really working well as a unit,” head coach Bob Ramsey said.

In the first half alone Manual had scored two unanswered goals.  At the start of the second half, Manual’s defense briefly relaxed long enough for Collins to score their only goal.

“The part of the game I was most upset about was that 2-1 score at the start of the second half,” Ramsey said, “Overall I’d rate this game a seven for our team’s performance.”

While Manual’s defense did falter one time, the offense seemed to never stop. Manual’s offense was relentless and never stopped looking for a way to exploit the defense.  Throughout the game Collins’ defense would end up clearing the ball instead of passing so that Manual wouldn’t keep control of the ball.

Midfielder Henry Jelsma (11, #54) recorded a hat-trick, and Manual found unique ways to score in the last five minutes of the match. 

“Our team is very goofy. We love putting up unorthodox shots with parts of our body that you normally wouldn’t see in a soccer game,” said Urban Wyatt (12, #4).

Manual’s offense stayed aggressive all game.  Every time a Collins defender would stop running, a Manual midfielder or striker would put a shot on goal, and more often than not the shot would go in.

“Offense scored six goals, so I mean what can anyone say about that,” Hagan said, “That’s two games in a row where we’ve put up six goals, our offense is looking good.”

Manual will play Greenwood on Saturday at Manual Stadium.  Kickoff is at 9:00am.