Quick goals lead to blowout win for Louisburg

Louisburg freshman Mackenzie Scholtz puts a shot on goal during the Wildcats’ match with Ottawa on Monday at Ottawa High School. Scholtz scored two goals in Louisburg’s 10-0 win, which was the Wildcats’ third straight win. 

OTTAWA – Fans didn’t even have a chance to warm their seat before the Louisburg girls soccer team scored its first goal Monday against Ottawa.

In fact, the seat still wasn’t warm when the Wildcats scored their second – or the third. Louisburg had four goals in the first seven minutes and put on an offensive display at Ottawa High School.

The Wildcats defeated Ottawa 10-0 to pick up their third consecutive win and continue to shine offensively as they have scored 21 goals in those three victories. Louisburg shared the ball well Monday as it notched assists on almost every score.

“The game was great,” Conley said. “The kids were always looking to pass and help their teammates. I think every goal we had, except for one, we had an assist on and that is great to see. I think two-thirds of our goals last year were unassisted, so the girls are sharing the ball right now and building their teammates up and making everyone better.”

Junior Bailey Belcher continued her torrid goal-scoring pace as she finished the game with four goals, including her first coming 16 seconds into the match. She had a hat trick with 26 minutes left in the first half and also finished with an assist.

In the three victories for Louisburg, Belcher has tallied 11 goals during that stretch to lead the Lady Cats.

Following Belcher’s first goal, a minute later the Wildcats (3-1-1) scored again when sophomore Hallie Hutsell found the back of the net on an assist from junior Savannah Reinhart – her first of three assists on the day.

Freshman Erin Lemke sneaks a shot past the Ottawa goalie Monday at Ottawa High School.

Several minutes later, freshman Mackenzie Scholtz scored her first of two goals and Belcher followed with two more to make it 5-0. Freshman Erin Lemke came off the bench to make it 6-0 on an assist from senior Madisen Simpson.

Simpson handed out another assist on Belcher’s final goal that came off a corner kick. Scholtz found the back of the net to make it 8-0, and then Simpson scored a goal herself late in the first half – her first of the season – to make it 9-0 at halftime.

Lemke ended the game midway through the second half with the team’s 10^th goal, which invoked the mercy rule. Along with her two goals, she also had two assists as did Simpson. Sophomore Hayli Detherage also had an assist.

Junior Shay Whiting and sophomore Carson Buffington combined to earn the shutout.

“The kids work so hard in practice, and some maybe get limited minutes here and there, but here we were able to get all the kids a lot of minutes,” Conley said. “It also helps too because we are pretty banged up right now and it helps us to get rested and get a few reps in.

“We have some internal motivation to play hard and that helps us a lot. The kids were focused and they understand that this is a meaningful game regardless of who we play and that is a good thing. I think we learned from Tonganoxie (0-0 tie) that when we don’t come ready to go that anything can happen. Now, every time we get off the bus we are focused and ready to go.”

The Wildcats will try for their fourth win in a row Thursday when they host Spring Hill at home as they hope to make program history.

“For Spring Hill, they are just reloading right now,” Conley said. “They are almost a 5A school and have lots of kids to choose from and that is a team that beat us twice last year. They are the only team on our schedule that we haven’t beaten before, or tied. We are looking to try and avenge that a little bit. We just need to come out and do our job and see what happens.”