The Dux soccer team got their first win of the season Monday night, as the defeated the River Rats of Black River 3-1. The game was the third in six days for the Dux. "I was a little concerned how we would come out and perform tonight, since we haven't had much time between games to make adjustments in practice. This early in the season, there are so many areas in which we can improve, we just have not had the time or opportunity."

Black River took the wind, but it was the Dux who controlled most of the play in the opening half. "Black River is feisty and plays hard. Even though we held possession pretty well, we did not do a very good job of capitalizing on our chances. We are still working on our chemistry, timing and movement both on and off the ball offensively, and that showed a bit in the opening 40 minutes. We were a bit impatient at times, and just needed to settle down. Defensively, we continue to make strides in limiting the number of chances we concede." The game remained scoreless at the half.

The second half, the Dux took advantage of the wind, and did a much better job of possessing the ball and moving forward with numbers in the box. That persistence and patience paid off as Sam Hecht scored 3 goals in a span of about 10 minutes to put the game out of reach. After beating her defender on the right hand side, Callie Dobrinski slotted a great ball across the face of goal to Hecht, who turned and fired a left footed rocket to the right of a diving keeper, making the score 1-0. Less than 90 seconds later, Hecht intercepted a ball at midfield and drove the length of the field, touching past an onrushing keeper before calmly slotting into the far side of the goal, making it 2-0. Hecht completed her hat trick after gathering a rebound in the box, and slipping to the lower left corner through traffic. Josie Bos' rocket of a shot from outside the box ricocheted of the back of a defender and into Hecht's feet.

Black River would score a goal off of an unfortunate deflection in the Dux defensive end, resulting in a breakaway that beat a charging Taylor Twork. "Offensively, we played with much more composure and maturity in the second half. Very pleased with the effort on both sides of the ball tonight. Both our keepers (Ryleigh Farrell and Twork) had solid performances tonight, and were very aggressive and decisive. As we continue moving players around, we continue to gain confidence and experience which will help us be successful in the OK Green. Black River played with a lot of heart and resiliency tonight." The Dux are 1-0-2 on the season, and return to action on Tuesday after spring break, when they host the Chix of Zeeland East.