Pekin 2, Orion 1

ORION -
Pekin got on track Saturday, winning their first girls’ soccer match of the season 2-1 over host Orion-Sherrard.
The Lady Dragons got on the board just four minutes into the contest. Shawna Swisher flicked a Sarah Zuercher corner kick towards the far post, where freshman Megan Campbell set up and finished with a beautiful header for her first career goal.
“We’ve been working a lot on redirection and creating chaos in the box,’’ Pekin coach Edgar Sandoval said. “ Every opportunity in there is different, but getting them used to it is key.”
The score remained 1-0 with about ten minutes left in the half when Zuercher found Campbell on a give-and-go right down the middle. With two defenders draped all over her, Campbell found another freshman, Michaela Quilty, cutting in from the left side for her first career goal.
“Michaela had a couple chances against Normal Community that she wanted back and she was really focused in practice yesterday, even taking extra some shots on her own between drills.
Clearly it paid off,” Sandoval added.
Orion-Sherrard avoided the shutout on Amanda Schmendt’s second half goal.
Pekin outshot its host 16-5 but was unable to generate another goal.
“We just couldn’t find the back of the net. We had so many shots and many more chances and we just couldn’t take advantage,’’ Sandoval said. “They dropped a lot of defenders, but you have to be able to adjust.”
The Lady Dragons have a week of practice before kicking off the Mid-Illini Conference schedule with a trip to Limestone March 31.