Goal rush

Sikeston's Blake Angle fights for position against a Fredericktown player on Monday at the Sikeston Sports Complex. Sikeston won the match 10-2. (Photo by Chris Pobst, Staff)

Sikeston pounds Blackcats 10-2

sports@standard-democrat.com

SIKESTON -- Hunter Williams scored a whooping four goals in the first half and the Sikeston Bulldogs soccer team routed the visiting Fredericktown Blackcats on Monday, 10-2 at the Sikeston Sports Complex.

"We kind of set the tone early," Sikeston coach Doyle Noe said. "Hunter (Williams) got a few good goals early on. Scoring that much in the first half takes the pressure off of you.

"Games like this, you just work on some things and defensively you have to stay strong. For the most part, we did."

Williams scored the first of Sikeston's many goals in the 13th minute. He went on to score three more in a span of nine minutes.

"I think Hunter is really starting to get that killer instinct up top," Noe said. "Early in the season he would hold the ball too much and try to make plays for other guys. He's starting to get a little more aggressive and he's putting his head down and attacking.

"He needs to do that. He's a great goal scorer and hopefully this will really get him going."

Williams put Sikeston up 3-0 after beating a Fredericktown defender 1 on 1 as well as their keeper. He scored the Bulldogs' very next goal just two minutes later with an assist from Trey Tigart.

Williams capped his day off by giving Sikeston a 6-1 lead with five minutes remaining in the first half.

"Getting those early goals and moving forward, deflates the other team," said Noe. "Once they get down, a lot of the times it builds us up. It was a good game. A lot of our guys got a lot of playing time and we had a lot of goals by different guys."

Adam Johnson put the Bulldogs up 5-1 with eight minutes left in the first half.

Trey Tigart made perfect use of a corner kick from Josh Bill in the 38th minute when he headed a ball directly past Fredericktown's keeper to give Sikeston a 7-1 advantage going into the second half.

"We've got a lot of guys that can score," said Noe. "Any given year, we have a lot of guys who could potentially lead the team in goals. It's good to have that because other teams can't necessarily key in on certain guys."

Chase Baron scored Sikeston's eighth goal in the 44th minute while Tigart punched in his second goal of the day with an assist from Williams in the 50th minute. Bill got in on the abundance of offense later in the second half with the Bulldogs' final goal of the evening.

Sikeston (9-4) travels to Harrisburg, Ill., today.