Chesterton girls soccer coach Kim Poppo knows that sophomore Catherine Pannekoek can score goals, she was just waiting for her to break through.

Tuesday night at Merrillville, Pannekoek knocked down the door.

Pannekoek scored Chesterton’s first three goals as the Trojans cruised to a 7-2 Duneland Athletic Conference victory over Merrillville.

“Tonight showed that we have several girls who are capable of putting the ball in the back of the net,” Poppo said. “It was great to see some different girls step up.”

Two of Pannekoek’s goals came in the first five minutes of play as the Trojans won most of the battles on the field.

“We’ve been working on 50-50 balls and being more physical and we did a much better job with that,” Poppo said.

After two Merrillville goals, Pannekoek added her third of the night to give Chesterton a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

“The girls really played well in the second half,” Poppo said. “At halftime we talked about playing the ball quicker, making diagonal passes and making more run offensively. We executed that much better during the second half.”

The Trojans got goals from Annie Thieling, Jensen Crots, Lauren Seawright and Katie Behrendt in the second half to secure the win.

Chesterton 7, Merrillville 2

AT MERRILLVILLE

Chesterton -- Catherine Pannekoek 3 goals; Annie Thileing 1 goal; Jensen Crots 1 goal; Lauren Seawright 1 goal; Katie Behrendt 1 goal; Shauna Foor 1 assist; Ashton Balch 1 assist; Megan Behrendt 2 saves; Liz Koch 0 saves.

Merrillville -- Nicole Brindley 1 goal; Danice Carbajal 1 goal; Andrea Correa 1 assist; Vicky Verduzco 12 saves.

Records -- Chestertn 4-2 (2-0 DAC), Merrillville 1-5 (1-1 DAC).

Junior Varsity

Chesterton 6, Merrillville 0

The Chesterton junior varsity girls soccer (2-0-1) team beat Merrillville 6-0 Tuesday night.

Scoring goals for the Trojans were Kaitlin Sekula (2 goals), Tori Schroder, Haleigh Vander Vinner, Jessica Hickle and Toni Greco. Chesterton recorded 14 shots on goal.

Laura Didonna had three saves and Liz Koch recorded one save.

Posted 9/3/2008