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Prom Night does girls soccer team no favors
By Chris Geinosky
As it turns out, the addition of Kearney High to the Missouri State High School Soccer Coaches Association Class 1 poll probably will not last long.
After recently cracking the state poll, the Bulldogs dropped back-to-back games Saturday, April 12, to close out the Excelsior Springs Tournament. However, the girls may have had other things on their mind with Prom Night set for later that day.
“Prom will always be an issue for us, so we’re just going to have to deal with it,” Kearney coach Jackie Haller said. “It’s never a good situation, but at the same time it’s good to see a lot of girls get a chance to play and gain experience.”
That was the Bulldogs’ biggest positive to come out of the weekend. Twenty-seven girls in all played for Kearney in a 6-1 opening-round victory Friday, April 11, against Savannah.
Playing through Saturday’s freezing temperatures and sleet, Kearney dropped a 1-0 decision to Belton in the semifinals. Then, in the third-place game against host Excelsior Springs, the Bulldogs played without 12 girls who went to prom, and eventually dropped a 2-1 heartbreaker.
“I can’t say enough good things about those girls (in the third-place game),” Haller said. “They did everything they could do under the conditions. With only three starters left out there, they nearly pulled one out.”
Still, Haller and the Bulldogs wish they could have taken care of business in the semifinals. Even though they knew they would be at less than 100 percent, they could have advanced to the tournament finals and faced eventual champion Platte County, which also broke into the last state polls.
“It’s not like we played bad soccer,” Haller said. “We played all right, but we didn’t play inspired. It didn’t seem like we played with a purpose or a drive (against Belton). It seemed like we were rushing, like we were trying to force some things. It’s behind us now. We’ll move forward and have a better week next week.”
Sports writer Chris Geinosky can be reached at 389-6654 or cgeinosky@npgco.com.
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After recently cracking the state poll, the Bulldogs dropped back-to-back games Saturday, April 12, to close out the Excelsior Springs Tournament. However, the girls may have had other things on their mind with Prom Night set for later that day.
“Prom will always be an issue for us, so we’re just going to have to deal with it,” Kearney coach Jackie Haller said. “It’s never a good situation, but at the same time it’s good to see a lot of girls get a chance to play and gain experience.”
That was the Bulldogs’ biggest positive to come out of the weekend. Twenty-seven girls in all played for Kearney in a 6-1 opening-round victory Friday, April 11, against Savannah.
Playing through Saturday’s freezing temperatures and sleet, Kearney dropped a 1-0 decision to Belton in the semifinals. Then, in the third-place game against host Excelsior Springs, the Bulldogs played without 12 girls who went to prom, and eventually dropped a 2-1 heartbreaker.
“I can’t say enough good things about those girls (in the third-place game),” Haller said. “They did everything they could do under the conditions. With only three starters left out there, they nearly pulled one out.”
Still, Haller and the Bulldogs wish they could have taken care of business in the semifinals. Even though they knew they would be at less than 100 percent, they could have advanced to the tournament finals and faced eventual champion Platte County, which also broke into the last state polls.
“It’s not like we played bad soccer,” Haller said. “We played all right, but we didn’t play inspired. It didn’t seem like we played with a purpose or a drive (against Belton). It seemed like we were rushing, like we were trying to force some things. It’s behind us now. We’ll move forward and have a better week next week.”
Sports writer Chris Geinosky can be reached at 389-6654 or cgeinosky@npgco.com.