Scholtz, Belcher combine for 7 goals in rout of Eudora

Louisburg senior Bailey Belcher makes her way toward the goal during the Wildcats’ match with Eudora on Friday in Louisburg. Belcher scored four goals in the team’s 8-0 win.

 

Coming off a frustrating loss to Baldwin earlier in the week, the Louisburg High School girls soccer team wanted to show that its performance against the Bulldogs was all in the past.

The Wildcats took step forward in showing that Friday when they hosted Eudora.

Louisburg took on the Cardinals in front of a packed house of Broadmoor Elementary School students during an early afternoon match and the Wildcats didn’t disappoint. They scored five second half goals and rolled to an 8-0 victory over Eudora.

“Wednesday we watched film, pointed out some things and Thursday I gave them a little butt-chewing on how I wanted things done the right way,” Louisburg coach Kyle Conley said. “We started getting lazy and not playing hard. Our goal this time was to just be high-pressure all the time. It wasn’t perfect or great, but this is what we are going to do from now on. We are just going to come get people, play hard and be on our toes. I think the kids played much harder than they did at Baldwin.”

Eudora had a difficult time in slowing the 1-2 punch of Bailey Belcher and Mackenzie Scholtz as the two players each recorded hat tricks in the win. Belcher finished the game with four goals and Scholtz added three.

It didn’t take long for the Wildcats to get on the board as Scholtz scored two goals 12 minutes into the match and Belcher scored her first with three minutes left in the first half to give Louisburg a 3-0 halftime advantage.

“They ran off each other a lot,” Conley said of Belcher and Scholtz. “I would like for them to give the ball up a little more, especially in that first half. We had other kids who were making the run and they just held it. They probably should have played that ball through a couple times and put others before themselves. They did work harder and I was getting after those two a lot because it starts from the top and goes back. Their response was good and was pleased with how hard they played.”

Just two minutes into the second half, Belcher had herself a hat trick when she scored a pair of goal right after halftime. Scholtz and Belcher each added a goal to make it 7-0, then in the 63^rd minute, sophomore Trinity Moore was able to find the back of the net for her first goal and sealed the win for Louisburg.

Defensively, the Wildcats didn’t give Eudora many good looks at the goal as the back line of Kaitlyn Lewer, Camdyn Clark, Hannah Straub and Moore turned away any runs the Cardinals tried to make. Goalies Shay Whiting and Carson Buffington combined to earn the shutout.

The victory improved Louisburg’s record to 8-4 on the season and Conley still believes his team has a lot of work to do before the postseason arrives.

“We are behind right now,” he said. “We have lost two games that we shouldn’t have lost. Hosting a regional for us is huge. We are a different team at home, so we have to get after it here. (Today) and Tuesday are really key for us and it is going to be tough. We have to find a way to get positive results out of both games.”

Louisburg won’t have to wait long to get its revenge on Baldwin as the Wildcats host the Bulldogs at 6 p.m. today at Wildcat Sports Complex. The Wildcats will then host league-leading De Soto on Tuesday in back-to-back big games.

“I think the loss at Baldwin woke the girls up a little bit,” Conley said. “We just didn’t show up to play for whatever reason. Hopefully we will be ready to go up against them this time and show them we are ready to go. I think the girls are focused now and hopefully it will be a different game.”

 

BALDWIN SHUTS OUT LOUISBURG

Louisburg traveled to Baldwin last Tuesday in hopes of getting a big road win for its resume, but unfortunately the Bulldogs had other ideas.

Baldwin put the match away with two second half goals and the Wildcats were unable to get much going offensively in a 3-0 loss.

“We were soft, hesitant and we were passive,” Louisburg coach Kyle Conley said. “We tried to go down the middle the whole time and that is not our game at all.”

Louisburg had a tough time stopping Baldwin’s Anna Burnett as she finished the game with a pair of goals and Katherine Braun scored the other.