Wildcats snap losing skid with win over Heritage Christian

Louisburg junior Erin Lemke (right) battles a Baldwin defender during the Wildcats’ April 15 home match. The Wildcats bounced back with a win over Heritage Christian on April 16.

The Louisburg girls soccer team was in the midst of a frustrating two-game losing skid in which it saw one missed opportunity after another.

So when the Wildcats traveled to Heritage Christian on April 16, they took full advantage of all their chances and they had plenty of them. Louisburg scored the first three goals and didn’t look back in a 4-3 victory that provided the Wildcats with the positive momentum they were looking for.

That didn’t mean it wasn’t without some drama.

Heritage Christian scored two late goals in the match to cut the Louisburg lead to one after the Wildcats had to change their lineup due to injuries.

“I thought for 60 or 65 minutes we played really, really well,” Louisburg coach Kyle Conley said. “We passed and moved the ball pretty well.  We were aggressive and played very hard. 

“We had several kids hurt/ sick and had to make adjustments. We had to move kids around in the last 20 minutes or so and put kids in positions that they usually don’t play to sort of plug holes. They scored two goals rather quickly and we were just holding on. I think Heritage is a quality side and it was a good win for us. It was a stressful ending, but a positive result nonetheless.”

The Wildcats (6-3) got out to big lead early and junior Leia Shaffer got the scoring started for Louisburg. Shaffer scored her first goal of the season on an assist from Emma Christy to put the Wildcats up 1-0.

Junior Trinity Moore maneuvered past the Heritage defense later in the first half and she found the back of the net to give Louisburg a 2-0 advantage and it stayed that way until halftime.

Moore added another goal early in the second half to put Louisburg up 3-0, but Heritage Christian didn’t back down. The Chargers followed with their first goal, before Louisburg junior Mackenzie Scholtz found the back of the net on an assist from Moore to give Louisburg a 4-1 lead.

Heritage answered with two quick scores late in the first half, but the Wildcats were able to hold on and snap their losing skid.

Louisburg returns to action tonight when it hosts Ottawa in a varsity-only matchup. The match is set to begin at 5 p.m.

Wildcats fall to Baldwin, Piper

On April 15, the Louisburg girls soccer team had a chance to hand Baldwin its first loss of the season when it hosted the Bulldogs on their home field.

In what was an up and down match, it was Baldwin that was able to take advantage of its chances as it gave Louisburg a 5-2 loss. Baldwin took a two-goal lead into halftime, and despite a couple quick scores from Louisburg in the second half, the Bulldogs kept adding onto its lead.

Baldwin scored four minutes into the contest to jump out on top and later scored again before halftime to take the 2-0 lead.

Louisburg responded with an early second half goal from Trinity Moore to try and give the Wildcats some momentum. Baldwin didn’t waste any time as it scored another goal a minute later.

The Wildcats didn’t back down as Lily McDaniel scored her first varsity goal to make it a 3-2 match, but Baldwin was able counter on several different occasions and that led to two more Bulldog goals and Louisburg couldn’t come back.

“We had the possession, we had more chances, but they just counter attacked every time and just got us,” Louisburg coach Kyle Conley said. “The girls played hard and played well. We did a good job of doing what we needed to do. We just missed our chances. We hit the post three times, had a breakaway and their keeper barely gets to it and just nicked it away. It could have easily went the other way, but it just didn’t this time. I think they had like six shots on goal and they got five to go in.”

It was the same type of match against Piper on April 11 as the Wildcats also fell on the road in a 2-0 defeat.

“We had two games like this back-to-back with Piper too,” Conley said. “We had the better of play, better chances, had four or five breakaways and just couldn’t get one to go. We go through these, and it stinks to go through them right now, but it is a learning lesson and we will get better.”

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