'You just learn by doing it': Alyssa, Erin Hallis fire away for Crestwood girls soccer

MANTUA — Edgewood had just tied the score and Crestwood was mad.

The Red Devils wanted an offside call. They didn't get it.

So after failing to erase Edgewood's equalizer, Crestwood did the next best thing, surging right back down the field for the go-ahead goal. Thirteen seconds after the Warriors tied the score, Red Devils junior Erin Hallis untied it with a bullet over the keeper from outside the box, and the goals kept coming in an 8-2 girls soccer win.

"We were really upset about that goal because we thought it shouldn't have been a goal," Erin Hallis said. "So we're just like, 'Guys, we'll get this next one.'"

For many, if not most, high school players, shooting from outside the box isn't a good idea.

The Hallis sisters aren't most players. Erin Hallis, a powerful Crestwood attacker who ended up with a hat trick Thursday, sent a number of liners on frame from outside the box, including the go-ahead goal.

Then, it was her twin sister's turn, which wouldn't be so surprising except that Alyssa Hallis is a center back, but one who happens to enjoy creeping up into the attack from time to time. Throughout the game, she increasingly crept up the field until she pounced on a deflected corner in the 31st minute.

There the center back was, perched on the back-left tip of the box. For most players, it wouldn't be worth attempting a shot from so far away. Most players aren't Alyssa Hallis, who sent a shot scorching into the net from an improbable angle to push the Red Devils' lead to 3-1 entering the half.

"I go up for the corners because Erin and I [are] big targets there," Hallis said. "I kind of stay up a little bit just in case somebody can drop the ball back before I get back to my spot, and so I had the opportunity."

The moment Hallis kicked the ball, she knew it was on frame. Then it was time to enjoy the show.

How did the Hallis sisters develop such a stellar shot from deep? Ron Hallis, standing behind his daughters at Jack Lambert Stadium, jokingly tried to take credit.

Erin Hallis conceded genetics could play a part. Otherwise, the attacker noted, they run to try to strengthen their legs.

"We run some," Hallis said. "We run some, so that kind of helps with our leg strength, and sometimes we'll pass together or take extra shots."

Those extra shots help a lot, said Alyssa.

"You just learn by doing it," she said. "The more times you kick the ball, like you'll kick the ball a certain way this time, a different way the next time, and you just realize, 'Oh, that one felt different. That one looked good. That one felt good.' So you just keep trying to repeat and do the same thing. Technique changes all the time. You just got to adapt to whatever is working and whatever you need to do with the ball."

All told, the Hallis sisters combined for four of Crestwood's goals in the win over Edgewood, as well as the game's most impressive defensive play, a clean diving challenge in the box by the junior center back.

"I always play with aggression, always wanting to win those balls, because I know if they get one more touch, there's a good chance they could get around," Hallis said. "And so you try to stop it before that can happen."

A third junior, Ava Julian, was also in the thick of things, joining Erin Hallis in notching a hat trick.

With three goals against Edgewood, two in Crestwood's opener against Waterloo and one against Ravenna, Julian has nearly matched last year's total of nine — and it's not yet September.

"Her shots, they've gotten harder and I feel like more accurate, but just we try to pass it to each other," Erin Hallis said. "We work pretty well together and so we just kind of try to feed it to each other and try to get those opportunities."

The Red Devils (3-1-0) are nearly halfway to last year's win total of seven with a big game against Kirtland looming on Tuesday.

"Just every new game, it definitely brings us some sort of confidence, even if we lose, because you're still learning something else and being able to be better the next time," Alyssa Hallis said. "Like with that shot, like that just built my confidence to let one rip from the outside if I can."

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Alyssa, Erin Hallis go outside the box for Crestwood girls soccer