Ladue Girls Roll in Opener

Ladue soccer player Mariana Alisio was just happy to be able to make the varsity team as a freshman.

Alisio made the most of her first high school game scoring a natural hat-trick, three goals in a row, as Ladue pounded Normandy 11-0 Wednesday in the season opener at Ladue Middle School.

"I was happy to make the team and thrilled that I got to start today," said Alisio, who plays club soccer with Lou Fusz. "It was fun to score some goals although I know that it is not going to be that easy. Things are going to get a lot harder."

The Rams scored all of their goals in the opening half as the game was stopped at halftime because of the 10-goal lead.

Ladue defeated Normandy 11-1 in the 2010 season opener. That game was 10-1 at halftime. The Rams scored in the second half of that one to end it. Ladue would not score more than four goals in any other game in 2010.

The Rams actually could have scored many more goals Wednesday as it was basically 40 minutes of target practice. The decisive win was accomplished without six starters who were on spring break and two others who did not enough practice time to play.

Two junior varsity players had to fill in so coach Dave Aronberg had no choice but to play his available players.

"This was only our fifth day outside and for a lot of these kids it was their first varsity game," Aronberg said. "That was probably good because they didn't know not to take this team lightly.

"I know a lot of the girls were nervous and it was good to get out there and play our first game. I treated it like a normal game, especially since it was a conference game."

Alisio and Monica Lee, who scored the game's first two goals, ended the game with three goals each. Meghan Beers added two goals while Sarah Fee, Cecilia Vetter and Grace Waldman also found the back of the net.

Ladue, which does not have a senior on the roster, will be in for much more of a challenge Friday as it hosts Ritenour at Ladue Middle School.

"Friday will be a different story," Aronberg said. "Ritenour is a big and physical team."