Buffington’s first goal seals rout of Bonner Springs
Louisburg senior Carson Buffington finds the back of the net Thursday on this shot to record her first varsity goal. Buffington also earned the shutout as the Wildcats’ goalie in the 10-0 win over Bonner Springs.
Carson Buffington knew this could
be her last shot.
The Louisburg goalie had a chance to play in the field earlier this season against Ottawa in hopes of scoring her first-ever goal. Buffington came up short in her one opportunity and Wildcat head coach Kyle Conley was going to give her one final chance.
“Carson doesn’t have a lot of soccer experience, but she mentioned to me that she wanted to try and score a goal,” Conley said “We tried against Ottawa and couldn’t get it to work. I told her she would get one more chance, but I didn’t know when it would be.”
That chance come on Thursday and
Buffington took full advantage.
With the Wildcats up nine goals on Bonner Springs at halftime in Louisburg, Buffington battled through the Bonner Springs defense as she forced her way into the box and put a shot in the back of the net early in the second half to give Louisburg a 10-0 win.
“She was like a bull in a china
shop,” Conley said. “Carson was just running through kids and bulldozing her
way in there. She is a kid who just started playing her sophomore year and was
scared to death of it at first. We got her some reps last year and has taken
full advantage of being the starting goalkeeper this year.
“Obviously this game got to the
point where we could give her a shot at it. It is a really cool moment for her
and the girls got all excited for her. It is always good to see the kids play
for something that is bigger than themselves and playing for their teammates.
That is the stuff that our program is all about.”
It was an offensive explosion for
Louisburg as it started with Mackenzie Scholtz. The Louisburg junior had a hat
trick 20 minutes into the contest and finished with a game-high five goals as
she ripped through the Bonner Springs defense.
Junior Morgan Messer also had her
best game on the varsity level as she recorded a hat trick and the two players
accounted eight of the team’s 10 goals.
“The kids have been busting their
butt,” Conley said. “We talk all the time if you are the bench that you are
paying attention to what is going on and what to do, so when you get your
opportunity, you take advantage of it. Morgan took full advantage of what they
gave her. It is good to get her going again and it is a pretty good time to do
it.”
Bonner Springs opened the game by
playing a high line and tried to frustrate the Wildcat attack by forcing them
offsides. It worked for the first few minutes of the contest, but the Wildcats
quickly figured it out.
Scholtz scored the first three goals of the match on assists from Erin Lemke and Skylar Bowman. Messer then answered with a goal thanks to an assist from Olivia Barber, and Trinity Moore won a 50-50 ball in the box for a score that led to a 5-0 advantage.
Messer answered with two more goals late in the first half on assists from Emma Christy and Moore, Scholtz added two more to make it a 9-0 halftime advantage.
“Bonner had kind of a jail break on their high line that they played,” Conley said. “They would run everyone up and it took a little while for the girls to read it and understand it. They just needed to give four of five more yards, so when they come running up, then we just run right back at them. We have enough speed on top where we probably left five or six on the board in the first half. The girls played hard and I was pleased with the adjustments they made.”
Buffington’s goal early in the
second half ended the match with the mercy rule and gave the Wildcat keeper
another shutout. Louisburg’s defense didn’t give up many opportunities as
Kaitlyn Lewer, Julianne Finley, Madison Quinn, Avery O’Meara and Hallie Hutsell
all played strong in the back.
The Wildcats (10-3) have one final
week of regular season play remaining and it is a big one as they are scheduled
to play three times this week. Louisburg will begin that gauntlet at 3:30 today
when it travels to Tonganoxie.
“It is a big week and there is a
lot of spots to gain or lose, Conley said. “Looking at the seedings, we are
probably going to be a top four seed regardless of what happens but we could
slide into the two spot or just stay at a three or four and just go from there.
Hopefully we can play well.”
LOUISBURG ROUTS BASEHOR-LINWOOD FOR PROGRAM’S 50th WIN
The duo of Erin Lemke and
Mackenzie Scholtz proved to be too much for Basehor-Linwood last Monday in
Louisburg.
Lemke had a career night as she
finished with four goals, and Scholtz added a hat trick for herself as the
Louisburg girls soccer team rolled Basehor-Linwood, 7-0, in Louisburg.
It was also an historic showing
from the Wildcats as they recorded the program’s 50th win in just their
fourth year of existence.
“The girls came out and played
pretty well,” Louisburg coach Kyle Conley said. “We worked on our inside runs a
lot because the week before was just brutal. We just spent a lot of time in
practice on where to be and where to cut and it just really paid off. It was really
a big night and the girls played hard.
“Between Mackenzie, Erin and the two outside midfielders, we just pressed all the time. We caught defenders on their heels and we were able to play balls through. It is funny because when you get two steps on your defender, they just aren’t going to catch you. We worked on that timing and worked on when to get to that run instead of standing with that last defender. It gave us a head start.”
The Wildcats didn’t need much of a
head start with the speed they have up top as Scholtz and Lemke each scored two
goals to put Louisburg up 4-0 at halftime. The Wildcats didn’t slow down much
as Lemke opened the second half with a pair of scores to all but seal the win.