Wildcats roll Ottawa en route to regional title game

By Andy Brown
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Updated: May 17, 2017

Andy Brown / Louisburg Sports Zone

Louisburg freshman Mackenzie Scholtz dribbles past the Ottawa goalkeeper Tuesday during the first round of the Class 4-1A regional tournament in Louisburg. The Wildcats won 10-0 and will face Bonner Springs in the regional title game at 4 p.m., today in Louisburg.

Following its 10-0 win over Ottawa on Tuesday in the first round of the Class 4-1A regional tournament, the Louisburg High School girls soccer team had a chance to celebrate a little.

The jubilation was short-lived – and for a reason.

Louisburg will host Bonner Springs in the regional championship at 4 p.m. today with the opportunity to win their second straight regional title. So, to make sure the Wildcats are ready, the team got together for a practice immediately following the win over Ottawa.

It was not your typical way to spend a postgame evening.

“This gave us a chance to work on some things that we weren’t able to work on in the game,” Louisburg coach Kyle Conley said. “We really need to get some more work in so that we are ready to go for (today).”

The game was called early in the second half when the Wildcats scored the 10^th goal and envoked the mercy rule.

Six different players scored for the Wildcats as junior Bailey Belcher and freshman Mackenzie Scholtz each recorded a hat trick to lead the way in a game where Ottawa never took a shot on goal.

Louisburg opened the scoring on a goal from Belcher seven minutes into the contest, but the Wildcats struggled to get going early. However, once they found success, there wasn’t much Ottawa could do to stop them.

Louisburg sophomore Hallie Hutsell passes the ball up the field Tuesday against Ottawa.

“We played alright,” Conley said. “Going into the wind, I think that is going to help us a little bit with our next game. Playing feet was the big thing for us. They (Bonner Springs) are going to play a high line just like Ottawa did, so this was a good warm up.

“The first 15 minutes I think we got a little frustrated because we couldn’t figure it out even though we talked about it Monday, then before the game. Once we solved the puzzle, it got going pretty quick.”

Scholtz responded with back-to-back goals to make it 3-0, then senior Quincy Rice and junior Savannah Reinhart each followed with a score. Belcher made it 6-0 with 17 minutes left in the first half, then sophomore Hayli Detherage found the back of the net.

Belcher and Scholtz each scored again to make it 9-0 at halftime. Then just a couple minutes into the second half, Morgan Messer clinched the win with a goal to improve the Wildcats’ record to 11-5-1 on the season.

“This win gives us confidence so that we can get things going,” Conley said. “Quincy was able to get a goal, and she hit a rocket off the post, so this was good for her to get things going. I think if we would have a more competitive game it might help us for our next one, but it is a give and take, and I think we can take a lot of positives out of this one.”

Freshman Erin Lemke (left) celebrate with teammate Quincy Rice following Rice’s goal in the first half Tuesday.

Goalies Shay Whiting and Carson Buffington combined to earn the shutout and this was Whiting’s eighth clean sheet of the season.

The Wildcats will face a stiffer challenge today against Bonner Springs (8-9), who defeated Basehor-Linwood, 7-0, on Tuesday. Both teams will be playing on back-to-back days.

“It will be tough because we have such young kids,” Conley said. “We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores, so that might be different for some of them. We are going to have to be mentally tough against a good Bonner team and we are getting better at it. We will just see what happens.

“We will need to play to the best of our ability and execute to win a regional championship. I think the excuse that we are a young team is no longer relevant. These young ladies have a full season under our belt and we will play like it here in the playoffs. The weather is going to cause some adversities, but it’s nothing we have not dealt with this season. I am really excited how this group of girls have grown over the season and how they have overcome so many adversities and injuries. This is going to be fun!”