The Allen women’s soccer team never trailed and made sure to give everything they had in their home opener against Hesston on Saturday, securing an 8-1 victory.
The Lady Red Devils (2-0) scored all eight of their goals in the first half, including four goals right off the bat. Lizeth Ayala had a hat trick after scoring three goals and Audrey Smith netted two goals. The Larks scored their lone goal at the end of the first half.
Katherine Hammond put Allen on the board first when she scored from the right side of the net off a pass from Ayala for the early 1-0 lead.
Ayala struck with her first goal only a couple minutes later when Smith sent her a pass which she finished for the 2-0 advantage.
“It was nice for a lot of these girls to gain some confidence back,” Allen head coach Jeremy McGinnis said. “We strive for possession and we moved the ball pretty well. It’s the best way to play soccer. Let the ball do the work. You’ve got to move, but let the ball do the work.”
Smith then scored a goal off an Ayala assist for the 3-0 lead.
Allen scored four more times before the Larks got on the board. Ayala scored twice within a span of eight minutes, as well as Smith netting her second goal and Vivian Santos with one.
“Vivian (Santos) does a great job of winning balls and she flies all around the place,” said McGinnis. “She’s aggressive and gets after it, she’s a ball winner. Katherine (Hammond) does a really good job organizing the back line.”
Hesston finally found the back of the net, their only shot on goal of the match, when Kira Kumada took an unassisted ball and buried it in the back of the net for the 7-1 Allen lead.
Rebecca Lord added one more goal for the Lady Red Devils and grabbed an 8-1 victory.
“The more they get used to playing with each other, the better off we’ll be,” said McGinnis. “They’re all learning new positions and in the backline, it’s important how much time they spend together to know what each other is going to do and the shape.”
Allen led Hesston in shots, 8-1, shots on goal, 17-2, as well as corner kicks, 7-0. 
Lord led Allen with a team-high nine shots while Ayala had eight shots and Santos footed five shots. Ayala had a team-high six shots on goal while Smith had three shots on goal.
Lucia Solanilla started at goalkeeper for the Lady Red Devils and had one goal scored on her, Hesston’s one of only two shots on goal. Brianna Alexander then played goalkeeper the final 25 minutes and made one save out of Hesston’s one shot on goal.
Allen heads to Pratt Community College on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
