By Sam Jack
TSnews
The Goddard Lions girls soccer team claimed a hard-fought win at Campus on Tuesday, April 12, 1-0.
The Lions’ lone goal came about 10 minutes into the game, an unassisted shot by freshman standout Emmy Hedden.
“She has stepped up and, as a freshman, definitely plays like she’s already a senior,” Goddard head coach Josh Hansen said. “She’s very composed, shows humility, not cocky at all, and wants to get better. She’s coachable, which is always a plus – and she makes her teammates better, and everyone on the team likes her. She’s just a solid, all-around player already.”
Colts head coach Nicole Peschel assigned freshman Teaonna Gitahi to mark Hedden on defense.
“We credit Teaonna for, not taking her out of that game, but limiting her,” Peschel said. “Teaonna knows her from club ball and did a good job of slowing her down, and her production, that game, which I think helped us overall.”
Hansen credited Campus’ defense, but also praised his own defenders.
“I don’t think we let Campus cross half very much, even with the wind, and it was a windy game. Emerson Wedel, our goalie, and Lauren Gordon, our center back, they did a really good job of just shutting it down.”
Lions beat Newton 3-0
On April 14, the Lions hosted Newton, winning 3-0. The game was scoreless for a good part of the first half.
“Anjaleena Gomez scored from like 30 feet out, just a great shot that hit the side net,” Hansen said. “I think that put a lot of pressure back on Newton, and relieved a lot of pressure off of us, especially after having a hard offensive game the game before.”
Bailey Hess scored the other two goals, with assists from Hedden and Gomez – all freshmen.
“Our freshman group is stepping up really well, but they have really good upperclassman support,” Hansen said. “They don’t get to do their things without the upperclassmen doing the things they’re doing.”
The Lions played at Salina Central on Tuesday, April 19. The next game on their schedule is Tuesday, April 26, hosting Andover.
Colts lose to Buhler, Andover
The Colts lost their other two games last week, 10-0 to Andover on April 11 and 2-0 to Buhler on April 14.
“Andover is a very talented team, and they definitely put us in our place on Monday,” Peschel said. “We play some of the toughest teams around. We just didn’t compete very well against that one.”
After that blowout, Peschel was encouraged by the 1-0 scoreline of the next day’s game versus Goddard, and by the 2-0 loss versus Buhler, during which Peschel saw some near-miss chances for her team.
“We felt that it was a very competitive game, an evenly matched game,” she said. “The two goals they scored, one was a free kick, and the other was a miscommunication in our back. Two things that could be fixed pretty easily. Again, we had opportunities, just couldn’t get one in the net.
“We were missing our goalie (Alyssa Thomas) on that night, and should have her now for good. We really piecemealed some games together with some kids, and I’m happy with how we responded.”
The Colts played at Andover Central on Monday, April 18. This Thursday, the team hosts Derby, and on Tuesday, April 26, the team travels to Maize.
