The Mexico girls couldn't avoid another 8-0 loss to Hannibal on Thursday night.
The Lady Bulldogs had already lost 8-0 to their North Central Missouri Conference foe in Hannibal this season but lost 8-0 to the Lady Pirates at home with 25 minutes left on the game clock to trigger the mercy rule again.
Head coach Sarah Olson said it isn't strange that Hannibal (12-4, 8-0 NCMC) is the toughest team on Mexico's schedule again. Mexico (6-11, 2-6 NCMC) has lost its last 16 meetings with Hannibal spanning back to 2016 by at least an eight-goal margin. Hannibal's had double-digit wins in every one of those seasons with its lowest total being 15 wins in 2017 and 2021.
"They have a good program, and it's hard to beat that," Olson said. "They didn't have any seniors last year, and so they obviously just got better."
Olson said Hannibal has a lot of skill all around the field and that makes it difficult for opposing teams to defend them.
"They're good with the ball at their feet, they can beat people on a dribble, they can pull moves and get around people, and they have good shots," Olson said. "All of those things together come from playing a lot of time. They work well together as a team and move off of each other."
The chemistry Hannibal has along with its quickness and relentless drive to play at "110 percent" keeps many opponents at arms length, Olson said. Mexico appeared to be taking a moral victory into halftime only down 3-0 until the Lady Pirates scored two goals within seconds of each other about three minutes before the intermission.
Abbie Martin secured a hat trick before Hannibal locked in a 5-0 halftime lead. Martin finished with four goals and one assist, Ashley Davis had two goals and one assist, and Malia Stolte and Marissa Falconer each had one goal. The Lady Pirates did well keeping the ball locked in on its offensive side of the field as it scored another two goals seconds within each other in the first minutes of the second half.
"We couldn't keep up with it," Olson said about Hannibal's quickness. "They also play really hard, and that's not saying that our girls don't."
Cassandra Young stayed busy for Mexico in goal by making 11 saves, including 10 of those in the first half. Hannibal recorded 21 of its 28 shots in the first half.
Olson said she thought Mexico could have been more aggressive but also that were positives to take from this lopsided loss. She said this is especially impressive when Mexico has shifted girls around to different positions mostly due to injury.
"We're having to put people in places where they haven't played a whole lot," Olson said. "I heard a lot of people taking to each other on just trying help Cass. Our goalkeeper gets a lot of good saves."
Mexico plays at conference and district foe and Class 2 No. 10 Moberly (13-5, 5-3 NCMC) at 6:45 p.m. Monday. The Lady Bulldogs lost 3-0 at home to Moberly earlier this season.
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