Join our Mailing List!
Please click the link below to sign up for your community paper mailing list. Stay up to date with all the events going on in your community as well as the latest news.Sign Up Today!
Girls soccer team slips into district semis
By Chris Geinosky
An apparent easy first-round district game turned out to be anything but for the Bulldogs.
Kearney High, the No. 2 seed in the Class 1 District 13 girls soccer tournament, opened postseason play with an uninspired 2-0 victory against No. 7 Sacred Heart on Monday, May 12, at Excelsior Springs.
“The score was a lot closer than the game was,” Kearney coach Jackie Haller said. “We had the ball the whole time, but we couldn’t finish. It was just one of those nights. I was worried a little when it was 1-0 because one mistake and they could tie it up, but they only had one really good chance in the second half.
“We had the ball deep in their end all night. It seemed like we were playing a little uninspired, almost like it was a practice.”
Still, the Bulldogs did enough to advance, and at this time of the season, that’s all that counts. Erin Easter scored the game’s only goals, finishing assists from Breah Sanders and Sara Drury.
As expected, the top three teams in the tournament advanced. Top-seeded Smithville blasted No. 8 Stover 11-0 in the first round and was scheduled to play No. 5 St. Paul Lutheran in Tuesday’s semifinals, while Kearney earned the right to meet No. 3 Warrensburg, a 5-1 winner against host Excelsior Springs in the first round.
Semifinal results were not available by press time, but the winners will play at 6 p.m. tonight for the district championship. The district champion advances to the state playoffs, which begin next week.
“We’re as ready as we’re going to be,” Haller said of her team’s postseason run. “We just need to be a little more focused, especially at the offensive end. We’re going to have to do a better job of finishing the ball because we’re not going to get as many chances as we did tonight (against Sacred Heart). We’re going to have to make them count.”
Sports writer Chris Geinosky can be reached at 389-6654 or cgeinosky@npgco.com.
printable version
e-mail this story
Kearney High, the No. 2 seed in the Class 1 District 13 girls soccer tournament, opened postseason play with an uninspired 2-0 victory against No. 7 Sacred Heart on Monday, May 12, at Excelsior Springs.
“The score was a lot closer than the game was,” Kearney coach Jackie Haller said. “We had the ball the whole time, but we couldn’t finish. It was just one of those nights. I was worried a little when it was 1-0 because one mistake and they could tie it up, but they only had one really good chance in the second half.
“We had the ball deep in their end all night. It seemed like we were playing a little uninspired, almost like it was a practice.”
Still, the Bulldogs did enough to advance, and at this time of the season, that’s all that counts. Erin Easter scored the game’s only goals, finishing assists from Breah Sanders and Sara Drury.
As expected, the top three teams in the tournament advanced. Top-seeded Smithville blasted No. 8 Stover 11-0 in the first round and was scheduled to play No. 5 St. Paul Lutheran in Tuesday’s semifinals, while Kearney earned the right to meet No. 3 Warrensburg, a 5-1 winner against host Excelsior Springs in the first round.
Semifinal results were not available by press time, but the winners will play at 6 p.m. tonight for the district championship. The district champion advances to the state playoffs, which begin next week.
“We’re as ready as we’re going to be,” Haller said of her team’s postseason run. “We just need to be a little more focused, especially at the offensive end. We’re going to have to do a better job of finishing the ball because we’re not going to get as many chances as we did tonight (against Sacred Heart). We’re going to have to make them count.”
Sports writer Chris Geinosky can be reached at 389-6654 or cgeinosky@npgco.com.