St. Louis, Mo…Due to some crazy scheduling the St Louis Lions and Springfield Demize met three straight times this week. On Saturday night the Lions capped off a big week with a third straight win over Springfield by a score of 2-1.
“Playing a team twice in a row is challenging but facing a team three times in a week is dangerous.” said St Louis Lions coach Tony Glavin “We are happy to have taken 9 points from Springfield but it wasn’t easy. They are a good side and made some adjustments today that caused us some problems in the first half. But we responded and fought thru it and in the end prevailed.”
Springfield surprised the Lions early and came out running and set the pace of the game. The Lions were slow to react and Springfield capitalized in the 12th minute when Michael Gow caught the Lions defense out of position and sent a looping ball over Lions goal keeper Nate Thackery for a 1-0 lead. This was the first goal Thackery had given up in two games. Springfield continued to press the Lions and carried a 1-0 lead going into halftime.
In the second half the Lions came out full of energy and dictated the play. The Lions tied up the game in the 54th minute when Jarius “Juice” Holmes gathered a ball on the right wing and weaved his way thru three Springfield defenders and crossed to Tyler Nichols. Tyler drilled a beautiful shot into the far post netting for his first goal of the season.
In the 68th minute of the game the Lions earned a corner and Blaine Veldhuis made the most of it. Olly Dyson drove a ball in from the corner to Juice to flick on to Veldhuis at the back post. Veldhuis volleyed the ball snapping the back of the net for a 2-1 lead. The Lions continued to pressure as the Springfield defense wore down. Aaron Brittain nearly added to the lead when he ripped a shot off the post in the 71st minute and Stuart Wark had an opportunity in extra time but it was cleared by the Springfield defense.
“I was not very happy with our first half but we fought and showed some great determination and we finished strong. I was much happier with the second half” said Glavin. “As I mentioned we got some crucial points and we move on to concentrating on our game Friday in Springfield. Our next couple games are important and will be intense as we have some great rivalries with Kansas City and Des Moines.”
The Lions head to Kansas City on Friday for a matchup with the Brass and then return home on Sunday June 13th to face the Des Moines Menance. The Lions will be honoring the Missouri State High School Soccer Champions on June 13th.
On June 12th the St Louis Lions players will be hosting a World Cup Watch Party at the Tony Glavin Soccer Complex as the United States will face England. All of the Lions players will be in attendance and watching the game with fans. Call 636-939-5151 for more details.
