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ALEXANDRIA - Junior Sophia Korynta has gotten off to a hot start this season and has helped lead the Alexandria girls soccer team to a 2-0 start. In Saturday’s match against the Detroit Lakes Lakers, Korytna scored four goals and helped give Alexandria an 8-0 win.
“The thing with our attackers, Sophia included, is they have a lot of speed,” Alexandria head coach Amy Korynta said. “They’re growing their confidence in being comfortable with the right foot to left foot, shooting from far away, shooting from close range and capitalizing on scoring opportunities.”
Sophia Korynta scored three of her four goals in the second half. She said that strong communication led to her four-goal outing on Saturday.
“I scored because of my teammates, and I was just making sure that I’m communicating well with them on the field and telling them where I’m going,” Sophia said.
Korynta leads the team in goals scored with five through two games, while senior Ella Westlund has three (two on Saturday), sophomore Allie Haabala has two (both came on Saturday and junior Greta Oldenkamp has one.
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Senior Alexa Eggebraaten and Haabala had two assists each against the Lakers, while sophomore Camree Miller, Oldenkamp and Westlund each had one.
“We’ve been practicing our short combination passes and how to play quickly, how to use our speed and on quick passing in tight spaces,” Amy Korynta said. “We had 23 shots on goal, so we’re pretty happy about that. And we had 15 in our first match (a 3-0 win over Moorhead), so we want to keep building on this.”
Alexandria also had nine corner kicks on Saturday, while Detroit Lakes (0-2) had zero.
Sophia Korynta is one of the many pieces on the attack that Alexandria has back from the 2021 team that went 15-3-1, won the Section 8AA title and went to the state tournament.
“I would say we’re a super athletic team,” Korynta said. “We have everything from the strength all the way to the speed. So I would say that we're just utilizing everything we have. And it's definitely helped us.”
Sophia Korynta scored 11 minutes into the first half, less than a minute into the second half, eight minutes into the second half and 18 minutes into the second half.
Haabala also stuffed the stat sheet as she scored a goal in each half for Alexandria to go along with her two assists.
Westlund got the scoring started for Alexandria with a goal in the third minute of the match. Westlund also scored the match’s final goal with about seven minutes left.
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“We’ve talked before about the importance of setting the tone of the match, starting out fast and starting out intensely,” Amy Korynta said.
With a 3-0 lead coming into the second half, Amy Korynta said she’s proud of how the team didn’t take the foot off the gas.
“I think what we are most happy about is the second half. We came out and right away within the first couple of minutes, kind of set the tone for the second half, beginning with a goal," she said. “I think the sooner we can establish how the pace of the match is going to flow, then we can get some teams on their heels pretty quickly."
The Cardinals dominated possession of the ball for the majority of the match and limited the Lakers to just one shot on goal that senior Sophia Vinje saved.
“We have a very aggressive style on defense,” Amy Korynta said. “I think our defenders on the outside and Greta Oldenkamp kind of in the middle are just not really allowing them to transition [upfield]. Any passes they’re trying to make out to breakout, we’re right there with them. I just think that they haven't been able to mount an attack because our defenders are right there.”
So far in 2022, things have been working defensively as the Cardinals have shut out Moorhead and Detroit Lakes.
Alexandria’s first road match of the 2022 season comes on Tuesday at Fergus Falls. Tuesday’s match begins at 7 p.m.
“The girls are pretty excited for the season,” Amy Korynta said. “The girls have some pretty high goals, one being to stay undefeated at home. They want to win the Central Lakes Conference and the section. They're so determined and they come to practice ready to work.”
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Detroit Lakes - 0 0 - 0
Alexandria - 3 5 - 8
G: Sophia Korynta (4), Ella Westlund (2), Allie Haabala (2)
A: Allie Haabala (2), Alexa Eggebraaten (2), Camree Miller, Greta Oldenkamp, Ella Westlund
