STORY BY ROB KISER - PIQUA DAILY CALL
The scoreboard at Wertz Stadium didn’t really tell the story Monday.

The Piqua girls soccer team may have lost 7-1 to visiting Springboro, but for the most part, the Lady Indians did exactly what coach Rob Alexander asked them to do.

“We have talked about improving each game,” Alexander said. “Tonight was a step forward. Tonight, we certainly played better than we did against Fairborn last Wednesday (a 1-0 loss).”

They were just playing against a program at a much higher level.

“Springboro had 72 girls try out for soccer this fall,” Alexander said. “They have a varsity, reserve and freshman teams. They are what you would call a soccer mecca.”

And while Alexander could have chosen to drop a number of girls back on defense and keep the game closer, he employed a much different strategy.

“We decided to come out and see what we could do,” Alexander said. “Tonight our focus was on offense. We wanted to work on putting the ball in the back of the net. I don’t know how many shots we had, but it was more than we had against Fairborn, who is not as strong a team.”

It took Springboro less than a minute to get on the board and the Panthers were in front 3-0 at the break, despite some outstanding play in goal by Laura Deal that thwarted several other shots from point-blank range.

And Kelsey Ellerman got the Lady Indians on the board with 23:26 remaining in the game. The sophomore put it in the back in the back of the net on shot from the far left side, giving the Piqua crowd something to get excited about.

“That was a great shot,” Alexander said. “Kelsey has really worked hard this summer and really come on for us. She is doing a great job.”

Springboro would add three more goals for the final margin.

Things will not get any easier for Piqua as they travel to Northmont Wednesday.

Piqua will then host Graham Saturday.

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