By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Seaman girls soccer coach Tim Nussbaum is very appreciative of the mix on his Viking squad between proven veterans and talented newcomers.
And that mix was on full display Thursday night as Seaman bounced back from its first loss of the season with a 7-0 United Kansas Conference romp past Leavenworth at Seaman.
Seaman senior Jaycee Schumann scored three goals, all in the second half, as the Vikings improved to 7-1 with a 7-0 UKC win over Leavenworth. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Seaman freshman Ava Huston scored the first two goals of the game in Thursday's 7-0 UKC win over Leavenworth. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Freshman Savannah Nelson had a first-half goal in Seaman's 7-0 UKC win over Leavenworth Thursday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Freshmen Ava Huston and Savannah Nelson accounted for all three of Seaman's first-half goals and seniors Jaycee Schumann and Brooklyn Yingling took over in the second half, combining for the Vikings' four goals, including a three-goal hat trick from Schumann.
Seaman's freshman class also contributed three assists, with Averi Tuck dishing out two assists and Ava Golightley one.
With senior Carstyn Anderson sidelined with an injury, Seaman is playing with just three seniors, but Schumann said the Vikings have gotten a big lift from their newcomers, who have made an immediate impact.
"I think since our first game they just really stepped up and we have good chemistry together so I feel like that works on the field, too,'' Schumann said. "They just fit in really well, they're really good.''
Nussbaum agreed.
"I love the freshmen's energy,'' he said. "I love that everybody's united, everybody's working as a unit and we're just trying to get better every day.''
Schumann said its important for her and the other seniors to set the tone for the team.
"We have to be leaders and we need to try and score goals,'' Schumann said. "We really want to get to state this year. That's our main goal, so we're really striving for that.''
Huston scored the only goal the Vikings would need at the 34:03 mark of the first half and added a second goal with 16:53 left in the half before Nelson made it a 3-0 game at the 5:52 mark.
Schumann scored two straight goals to open the second-half scoring and completed her hat trick with 3:13 left after Yingling had scored with 7:56 remaining.
Junior Makena Schuler and sophomore Maegan Mills combined for the shutout in goal as Seaman improved to 7-1 overall and 3-1 in the UKC.
Unofficially, Seaman was credited with 33 shots on the night while Leavenworth (2-5, 0-4) had just one shot.
Seaman was coming off a frustrating 1-0 league loss to Piper on Tuesday and Nussbaum said he was pleased with the way his team bounced back, particularly in the second half.
"I thought the energy level was there the whole game, but the actual crisp soccer, the actual connection soccer, the actual through balls, goals and tenacity I wanted was there the second half,'' Nussbaum said.
"That was a tough one to drop the other day with 30-some shots and the other team had like one or two, and we lose that. Tonight we had like 40 shots, seven goals. That's much better so finishing practice paid off. We'll take 7-1 and go from there.''
SEAMAN 7, LEAVENWORTH 0
Leavenworh (2-5, 0-4) 0 0 -- 0
Seaman (7-1, 3-1) 3 4 -- 7
Seaman -- Goals: Schumann 3, Huston 2, Nelson, Yingling. Assists: Tuck 2, Golightley. Shutout: Makena Schuler, Mills.
