Trinity’s Kade Gillaspy moves the ball toward the net for one of his five goals during Tuesday’s win over Austin. He also had an assist in Trinity’s 9-0 win.
Arv Koontz | The Tribune
Trinity Lutheran’s Levi Curry advances the ball at midfield as teammate Adam Sutton looks on during Tuesday’s match against Austin. They helped Trinity win 9-0
Arv Koontz | The Tribune
Trinity Lutheran soccer player Kade Gillaspy will have long and pleasant memories of Tuesday’s home match against Austin.
All the senior striker did was score five goals to help his team to a 9-0 win.
Gillaspy scored goals at 29:30, 25:56 and 14:30 of the first half. His third goal made it 5-0 and put the running clock into effect.
Gillaspy scored at 36:30 and 12 minutes of the second half.
Trinity’s coaches believe Gillaspy’s performance to be a new school record for goals in a match.
“I was looking for Alex Damon most of the time because he always has that good eye on the field,“ Gillaspy said.
“He is always looking and finding people to get open, and people like Isaiah Carrigan and Landon Manuel can cross it really well in the middle of the field and they can find you, too, so they’re always good to look for also.
“Five goals feels pretty good.” He also had an assist.
Damon had three assists, and John Harris, Carrigan, and T.J. Rieckers each had one assist.
Gillaspy’s previous high was scoring three goals against Lanesville last year.
Trinity coach Nathan Pyle said, “Kade has entered the area of Coach Pyle’s Dogs today. Every year I have my Dog. Last year it was Levi Pottschmidt. Kade is a Dog for us. He has a lot to handle, and he did very well today with finishing his placement of his shots.
“It was a great all-around effort from him.”
The Cougars lost to Rising Sun Saturday, and Pyle said, “We completely changed our formation from Saturday so today was going to be a little bit of a test for us.
“It might have had something to do why it started out a little slow, but I think once everybody stated getting used to what was expected of them and their position everything started to be very smooth for us.”
Pyle liked the way Trinity’s defense dominated possession of the ball.
“I think our midfield controlled the game for us today. Between Alex Damon, Noah Lawrence, and John Harris (played outstanding).”
Trinity goalie Ezra VanCuren made two stops, at 17:25 of the first half and at 8:27 of the second half.
After Damon opened the scoring with the 34:26-mark of the first half, Harris scored with 26:46 remaining in the first half, and scored his second goal one minute into the second half.
Kade’s little brother, Dane, scored with 7:50 remaining in the match to make it 9-0 and end the match on the mercy rule.
Pyle said he was hoping the Cougars would have come out more aggressive at the start.
“We did not start out as strong as we wanted to,” he said. “It took a little too long for us to get the pressure that we should be getting, getting some shots on frame.
“So once we started getting those shots on frame and more guys into the mix, it seemed to be smooth sailing from there. Austin is one of those teams that is going to give everything they have, every single time we play them, so hats off to them for not giving up. They played very hard.”
Trinity (1-1) will travel to Indianapolis Lutheran Thursday for a 6 p.m. match.
Kade Gillaspy said, “We’re going to have to work hard to get past them, work on those through balls to get to them in time. We’ll need a lot of good shots on goal.”
Trinity Lutheran 9, Austin 0
Trinity Statistics
Goals: Kade Gillaspy 5, John Harris 2, Alex Damon, Dane Gillaspy
Assists: Damon 3, Harris 2, Isaiah Carrigan 1, T.J. Rieckers 1
Saves: Ezra VanCuren 2