PITSBURG – The Franklin Monroe Jets played host to Lehman Catholic in soccer action on Saturday.
It didn’t take long for the Jets to get on the scoreboard thanks to the friendly help from Lehman, who accidentally scored in its own goal at 37:48 to give FM a 1-0 lead.
The Jets kept the pressure on with good ball work and passing that eventually turned into a goal off the foot of Dallas Arnett at 33:30 to go up 2-0.
“We got up on them and then got a little sloppy,” Franklin Monroe boys soccer coach Danny Diceanu said.
Lehman took advantage off a nice goal that just cleared over the top of the keeper and just under the top of the goal to inch to 2-1 on the scoreboard.
“We didn’t do the right things by closing out on the shot, and our goalie was out of position. Give them credit, it was a decent shot … but if we do the right things and are in the right position, they don’t score that goal,” Diceanu added.
The Cavaliers stiffened on defense, holding FM scoreless the remainder of the half.
In the second half the Jets played with urgency and relied on each other with better passing and team play that resulted in score by Britt Bowlin at 33:11 to go up 3-1.
Bryce Robison then finished the scoring for FM at 25:50 with a solid shot for a 4-1 win over Lehman.
“I told the boys at halftime to keep it simple, quit trying to be fancy and do the right things. Find the open man, quit going down the middle, beat them on the outside and cross the ball at 45 degree because we got people coming in, good things happen when you move the ball,” Diceanu said.
“Overall we didn’t play horrible. We had three shots off the post and a number of shots on goal we just didn’t capitalize on all our opportunities,” Diceanu added.
“This isn’t the best defensive team I’ve ever had, and I pride myself on having good defensive teams. They have the potential to be a good defensive team, but they aren’t there yet,” Diceanu continued.
“We aren’t a me team … it’s a we team, and in the second half we played more like a we team, and we are getting better,” Diceanu said.
The Jets go to 4-1 overall with their only loss to Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy.
Next up is a league showdown at Miami East on Thursday at 7:15 p.m.
In girls action the Lady Jets fell 3-0 to state-ranked Lehman.
