Senior Night Blowout: Wildcats shutout Cyclones

By Andy Brown
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Updated: May 11, 2017

Andy Brown / Louisburg Sports Zone

Louisburg senior Madisen Simpson heads the ball away during the Wildcats’ match with Ottawa on Monday during Senior Night. The Wildcats defeated the Cyclones 10-0 to get their 10th win of the season.

Seniors Madisen Simpson, Bryn O’Meara, Lily Cook and Quincy Rice were flooded with all different kinds of emotions as they were honored during the Senior Night ceremony Monday prior to their game with Ottawa.

They were proud. There were some sad tears, followed by some happy ones. They felt honored.

Despite all those emotions, the four Louisburg seniors – along with their teammates – felt only one thing after the game was over.

Victory.

The Wildcats needed just one half to get a 10-0 win over Ottawa at the Wildcat Sports Complex. Louisburg’s 10 goals forced the mercy rule and the players got a chance to celebrate a little earlier than usual.

“I know it has only been two years, but these kids have been with me for multiple summers and have been engaged in multiple aspects of our program,” Louisburg coach Kyle Conley said. “To be honest, all these kids have given their absolute everything. They all showed up to offseason stuff and busted their butt and worked hard. A lot of these kids are involved in different things, so for them to show up and come fight was a fitting way to cap this off.”

It was the underclassmen who got the Wildcats (10-4-1) off to a good start on the scoreboard.

Junior Savannah Reinhart scored the game’s first goal five minutes in, and from there, the flood gates opened. Freshman Mackenzie Scholtz scored one and then fellow freshman Trinity Moore responded with flurry of her own.

Moore, who has been easing her way back from a foot injury, recorded three goals in a span of about 10 minutes to get the hat trick and her team a 5-0 lead.

“Trinity is a super aggressive kid,” Conley said. “She is back being fit again and she works hard. We definitely got her some good looks. Ottawa played a high line, so it made easy for us to get it and go. She just ran by people out there and she is like a little deer. She has been out for so long, and dealt with such frustration, and now she looks like she is ready to go. She is a grinder and a competitor and that is all you can ask.”

Scholtz followed that up with her second goal of the game and junior Bailey Belcher added one to make it 7-0. Conley wanted to make sure his seniors got involved in the scoring too.

Rice put one in the back of the net to give Louisburg an 8-0 advantage, and after Reinhart scored her second goal, it was O’Meara’s turn.

Senior Bryn O’Meara hits a shot past the Ottawa goalie Monday in the Wildcats’ 10-0 win.

O’Meara, who is the team’s outside back on defense, was moved up top by Conley to try and get her a good look.

“She just looked at me and yelled, ‘Coach, what do I do?” Conley said. “I just told her to go run and score a goal.”

O’Meara did just that. After a few missed opportunities, the Louisburg senior snuck a shot past the Ottawa goalie to give Louisburg a 10-0 lead with 10 minutes remaining in the first half.

“To see Quincy get one and then Bryn get her first varsity goal was a lot of fun,” Conley said. “It was cool to see their teammates do whatever they could and get them a good chance and have one. It took a couple chances, but it was good to get the icing on the cake eventually. It was great to have a good finish like that.”

It was a fitting ending to what was a special evening for the Wildcats. Rice and O’Meara scored a goal, Simpson played strong in the midfield and Cook walked onto the field for the final time after missing most of the season with an injury.

Louisburg seniors (from left) Madisen Simpson, Bryn O’Meara, manager Noah Juarez, Lily Cook and Quincy Rice were honored Monday during the Senior Night ceremony.

“They are just fantastic,” Conley said of his seniors. “Lily got knocked out in that De Soto game and she just hasn’t been able to come back. We got her to walk out with us one last time to start, just so she could enjoy it a little bit, but it is still not the same. She is a kid that always had a great attitude and works so hard. Her work ethic is one that the kids want to emulate because it is what you need to have. She is a great kid as are all the seniors. They all work very hard and have good attitudes.”

The Wildcats have one more regular season game at 6 p.m. today when they travel to Spring Hill as both teams are fighting for the No. 1 seed in the Northeast Regional. Conley hopes it is still a few more weeks before he has to say goodbye to his seniors for good.

“I don’t want to be done just yet,” he said. “I want to keep them around a little while longer, talk to them, hang out with them and see them before they get too cool and run away. They are like a bunch of little daughters. You just grow attached to them and it will be hard to see them go.”