photo by: John Young

Lawrence High sophomore Maria Duncan (2) slaps hands with senior Micaela Riley following Riley's second half goal during their game against Leavenworth Tuesday evening at LHS.

Last week, Lawrence High’s girls soccer coach Matt McCune found a lineup and attacking philosophy that seemed to be a good fit for the Lions. Tuesday night against Leavenworth, it looked as if his players had been running it for years.

Attack. Slip a pass behind the defense. Score. Repeat.

Lawrence mastered the sequence in a 6-0 home victory.

The Lions (6-7), who had lost seven straight before defeating crosstown rival Free State last week, built their revamped offense from the back, then utilized the speed of their primary attackers, junior Skylar Drum and freshman Anna Chieu, on the wings for their first back-to-back victories in a month.

Drum scored twice, as did Chieu, and most of Lawrence’s goals looked identical, with an attacker taking advantage on the weak side of the field.

“They’re such good strikers,” McCune said of assertive forwards Drum and Chieu. “It’s a joy to have that. It’s nice to have one, but when you have two? And at the same time, Micaela Riley is perfect to put in between them, because she’s got a deft touch and an awareness of the game. She knows that she’s not gonna run as fast as they are, but she’s got an uncanny idea of where they’re gonna be, so she can with a single touch play the ball perfectly in their stride to goal. It’s a great compliment.”

Riley’s precision earned her a goal, as well, as she drilled a shot into the upper left corner from about 20 yards out in the 43rd minute, improving Lawrence’s three-goal halftime advantage to four.

“I kind of just shot it and hoped it would go in,” Riley admitted, with a laugh. “I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh. It went in.’ But, yeah, it was awesome.”

Freshman Evann Seratte joined the goal-scoring party in the 55th minute, when Chieu attacked and, of course, found Seratte open behind the goalkeeper. Later, Seratte set up Drum on the far side for the Lions’ sixth score.

“When passes work like that,” Riley said of Lawrence’s success, “it makes it so much easier to make shots on goal and have opportunities, so it makes it easier to play. It’s just a fun time.”

In fact, the Lions put 19 shots on goal, with sophomores Maria Duncan and Mia Comparato and junior Carson Drake also taking cracks at scoring, while Leavenworth only managed one.

Lawrence sophomore Bess Davison, though, stymied the Pioneers’ lone chance at avoiding a shutout, denying a would-be goal in the 65th minute and providing a big defensive assist to victorious goalkeeper Tori Mosakowski.

“We got our confidence back,” Riley said, “and I think it helps us as a team, just to regroup after playing those really difficult teams.”