Second half sparks Wildcats over Heritage

Louisburg sophomore Georgia Wilde wins a 50-50 ball during the Wildcats’ game with Piper earlier in the season. The Wildcats scored four second half goals to defeat Heritage Christian 6-1 on Thursday in Louisburg. Wilde scored one of those goals, which was her first of the season.

The game was never truly in doubt, but Louisburg girls soccer coach Kyle Conley saw that something was missing from his team in the first half.

Louisburg held a one-goal lead over Heritage Christian at halftime, but it could have been more. The Wildcats found whatever was missing in the second half as they scored four goals to get a 6-1 victory Thursday in Louisburg.

“We were playing a very well-coached and short-sided Heritage team, but I feel we executed well on the offensive end,” Conley said. “In the first half we struggled to make that last pass to our feet and did more one on one, but in the second half we completed a lot more passes to feet. I was very pleased with our possession and ability to complete that final pass in the final third of the field.”

The Wildcats were still able to find the net in the first half as senior Maddie McDaniel scored the team’s first goal on an assist from freshman Hayli Detherage. Louisburg was able to take a 2-1 lead at halftime when junior Lily Cook scored off an assist from sophomore Savannah Reinhart.

Louisburg (4-1-1) had no problem making that extra pass in the second half and it led to several goals.

Sophomore Bailey Belcher got the scoring started early to double the Wildcats’ lead. Senior Lilly Scott followed suit with a goal of her own off an assist from McDaniel.

Belcher scored her second goal of the match to give Louisburg a 5-1 lead late in the contest and then sophomore Georgia Wilde scored her first goal of the season off an assist from Belcher to seal the win for the Wildcats.

Heritage Christian didn’t have many opportunities to score in the second half thanks to a Wildcat defense that made it difficult as Heritage was held to just five shots on goal for the game.

“Our defense did a very nice job of limiting their scoring opportunities,” Conley said. “I am very pleased with how our defense is building off each other and developing a strong chemistry among that group.

“It was also nice to be able to play some kids that usually don’t get much time at the varsity level. We are a team that is still learning and my goal is to keep getting better each game out, and for the most part, I believe we are.”

The Wildcats will try for their second straight win today when they host Frontier League foe Ottawa. Varsity is set to begin at 4 p.m. and junior varsity will follow.