Decatur FC’s offense was stifled in its last two games as the club took on two of the best defensive teams in the league. For a team that is used to running up scores, those games were a reminder that the league’s competitiveness has increased this year.
Happily for Decatur, however, the Tennessee Tempo gave them a chance to remember they possess plenty of offensive firepower. In the first half, Decatur netted a staggering seven goals, finishing the game with 12 and securing a clean sheet. It’s doubtful that Tennessee even had 12 chances on goal — Decatur was that dominant.
“You’re always hoping that there’s going to be a game where you can get everybody good minutes, good playing time, and score goals, and you know, tonight was perfect for that,” Decatur coach Campbell Chapman said.
The goal fest started just six minutes into the game with a signature passing play from Decatur, tapping the ball through the hapless Tempo defense. Forward Dylan Driver knocked it in one-on-one with Tennessee goaltender Jordan Butler. Ten minutes later, forward Sarah Greiner buried her first of the game off a perfectly threaded pass from forward Emma Chapman. Merely 20 minutes into the match, Driver put Decatur up 3-0 off another assist from Chapman.
Chapman was on fire, but the fourth goal was a team effort. A series of passes crisscrossing all the way from the opposite end of the field sent the ball to Chapman’s skilled feet. She slid yet another stellar pass directly onto the feet of forward Kathleen Ngulefac, who was easily able to get around Butler and score the fourth.
“Emma provides a lot of through balls,” Campbell said. “It was a perfect storm for that, because they played a high line, and we’ve got speed up front, and there’s no one better than Emma to find those through balls for the ongoing strikers.”
The fifth goal came off a technicality. Butler came far out of the box and grabbed the ball, which is a direct free kick. Greiner kicked it uncontested into the back of the net for five goals in 32 minutes.
At 34 minutes, Tennessee attempted a comeback, and Decatur goaltender Nikky Bidun made her first save of the game. This only seemed to fuel Decatur to score more, as forward Njeri Butts found Driver right in front of the net for the tap-in at 37 minutes, securing Driver the hat trick.
With one minute remaining in the half, Decatur added one more, but Butts flying up the sideline with the ball with Greiner to her left and only one defender on them. Butts easily passed it to Greiner, who scored the seventh of the half for a hat trick of her own.
The second half went no better for the Tempo as Decatur showed no mercy. Ten minutes into the half, Chapman was again conducting play in the midfield and passed a long ball up to forward Maggie Wadsworth, who outraced her defender and easily bypassed new Tennessee goaltender Ella Gilliam for the eighth goal and her fourth of the game. Greiner got the chance to assist on Decatur’s ninth goal, finding Maggie Wadsworth in front, who deflected it in.
“Most of the goals were fast breaks down the wing and then crosses and then scoring in front of the goal,” Campbell said. “That’s why it was our center forwards — Dylan was playing the first center forward, and she scored three, and then we played Maggie in the center forward, and she got two, and Sarah got three from the wing on crosses. I think Emma crossed one or two in for her, and then the other two were similar.”
The tenth goal was undoubtedly the most impressive, though. Greiner took a corner kick and scored an Olympic goal, bending it untouched into the back of the net — one of the most difficult goals to score in soccer. It was also her fourth goal of the game.
A sliding goal at the back door from Greiner — with another assist from Chapman — netted her five goals on the game and made it 11-0. Finally, midfielder Allie Planeaux displayed some excellent ball handling, evading multiple defenders and kicking it in to seal the win at 12-0.
It was an incredibly dominant performance from Decatur FC, who got to unleash their offense for the first time in weeks. They’ll be away again on Sunday to play Georgia Impact at 7 p.m. in Woodstock.
