Wildcats get back on winning track with shutout of Eudora

Louisburg sophomore Adyson Ross battles a Eudora player Monday during the Wildcats’ home contest against the Cardinals.

After suffering its first loss of the season, Louisburg head coach Kyle Conley wasn’t sure what to expect from his young group Monday against Eudora.

It didn’t take long for him to figure out that they would be just fine.

The Wildcats scored two second half goals and the Louisburg defense earned the shutout in the 3-0 victory at the Wildcat Sports Complex.

Louisburg controlled possession, and despite a few Cardinal opportunities, the Wildcats improved their record to 6-1 on the season and got back on the winning track.

“When you have a team that is kind of young and inexperienced, you just don’t know what that next game was going to be like,” Conley said. “We were kind of nervous about it, but the girls responded well. We are a physical, strong and scrappy team, but Eudora is going to play hard every time. 

“To be honest, I think Eudora did a good job taking away some of the things that we wanted to do, but at the same time we did a good job exposing the outer flanks and attacked the outside. Reese (Johnson) just absolutely did a great job in that regard.”

The Wildcats got many of their opportunities on that outside and put 18 shots on goal, three of which found the back of the net.

Senior Olivia Barber opened the scoring in the first half with a shot from the right side that found the far corner and the Wildcats took a 1-0 lead into halftime.

Louisburg could have had an even bigger lead, but the Wildcats missed on a few scoring opportunities in both the first and second halves.

“We were just pressing too much and were almost trying to play too perfect,” Conley said. “That is not part of the game. We just need to take what they give us and go from there. We probably could have scored two or three more goals in that first half, but I’m proud of the way the girls responded and kept attacking.”

Freshman Lola Edwards continued to be on attack mode early in the second half as she put the Wildcats up two with a goal. Fellow freshman Lexi Hampton followed suit late in the game with a shot from the left side that found the right corner of the net.

Hampton, along with sophomore Bree Gassman, recorded assists. Sophomore Adyson Ross and junior Reese Johnson also had shots on goal.

Barber led Louisburg with nine shots on target, while Edwards and Hampton finished eight and seven, respectively.

Defensively, the Louisburg back held strong and goalie Sierra Hahn recorded 12 saves on the night to earn another shutout.

Ross and freshman Hailey Sword also provided the Wildcats with strong play in the middle.

“We stood Eudora up and let them have what they wanted from deep,” Conley said. “We tried to take away their through ball and they got us once there toward the end, but we did a good job covering. We could have been a little tighter and more disciplined in the back, but I thought defensively we played really well.”

Louisburg will try and make it back-to-back wins when it travels to Piper for a 4:30 p.m. matchup. 

Wildcats lose first game of season to Spring Hill

Last week, Louisburg got a first hand look at just how good of a team Spring Hill was when the Wildcats went on the road.

Spring Hill scored three first half goals and the Broncos cruised to a 9-0 win over the Wildcats.

“Spring Hill is probably the best team I have seen since I came here in 2016,” Conley said. “They are incredible. At the same time, five of those goals we basically gave them because of mistakes on our part. They are legit and as advertised. They aren’t nine goals better than us, but they are really good. Our girls still kept playing hard in that regard, but we just didn’t execute so well.”