Wildcats stay perfect with wins over Wyandotte, Atchison

Louisburg freshman Lola Edwards pushes the ball up the field against an Atchison defender last Thursday in Louisburg. Edwards recorded a hat trick in the Wildcats’ win over the Lady Red.

KANSAS CITY KAN. — So far so good for the Louisburg girls soccer team.

Despite being a roster that is filled with freshmen and sophomores, the Wildcats continued their winning ways Tuesday when they traveled to Wyandotte High School.

Louisburg scored five first half goals and never looked back in its 6-0 victory over the Bulldogs. It was the third straight victory for the Wildcats to start the season.

“I thought we came out and played with a lot of energy and fight,” Louisburg coach Kyle Conley said. “The girls played very hard from start to finish, but I felt our execution could have been better. We were missing passes that we usually do not miss. With that being said, our vision was really good to see the passing lanes and what they were trying to do to us defensively.

“It was nice to have a lot of different scorers again, as well as, getting to get every girls in the game for substantial time.”

Junior Reese Johnson scored her first goals of the season after assisting many of the Wildcats’ scores through the first two matches. Johnson had two goals on the night to lead the way for Louisburg.

Freshman Lola Edwards also had a big night with two goals of her own, but she also had two assists. Senior Olivia Barber also had a goal an an assist.

“Reese has been one of our best players all season,” Conley said. “She is playing extremely confident and really well right now. She is doing a lot of things right for us and being a great example of what we are looking for from our girls. 

“Lola did a very nice job of finding her teammates and finding openings in their defense. She is really doing a great job of seeing the field and being coachable. She has done a nice job to start the season and I love how she is always looking to get better.”

Louisburg took a 5-0 lead into halftime, but added one more for good measure in the second half when sophomore Bree Gassman scored her first varsity goal in the process. 

So far this season, the Wildcats have recorded three straight shutouts on defense and have outscored their opponents 19-0 to start the year. It is the kind of start Conley will definitely take from his young team.

“The girls have done a nice job of doing what the coaches ask of them,” Conley said. “We are still growing as a team, but I think each and every night out, their confidence is growing. This team is doing a nice job of taking what the other teams are giving us and exploiting that. I am excited to get to play our first league opponent to see where we match up. The girls will be up to the challenge.”

That next challenge will be tonight when Louisburg hosts Tonganoxie at 6 p.m. in its first Frontier League match of the season.

Wildcats roll past Atchison

Louisburg was able to pick up an extra home game on the schedule last Thursday when inclement weather forced the game to be moved from the Atchison grass to the Wildcat Stadium turf field.

The rain didn’t seem to slow the Wildcat offense down at all as they scored four first half goals and shut down the Atchison attack for a 7-0 win at home.

The Wildcats peppered the Atchison defense with 23 shots on goal and seven of them found the back of the net.

“I appreciate how hard the girls are working and them wanting to improve each and everyday,” Conley said. “They are supportive of each other and have been there for each other. We have been pushing them in practice and the girls have been responding.”

Freshman Lola Edwards became the second Wildcat in as many games to record a hat trick. Edwards finished the night with three goals and fellow freshman Lexi Hampton added two of her town.

Hampton recorded a hat trick in the season opener and has joined Edwards as one of the team’s top options up top.

“Offensively, we are still figuring out how I want them to play, but you can see they are seeing the runs and the passing channels,” Conley said. “We need to execute better but that will come. Hampton and Edwards getting hat tricks in the first two games is impressive. Had five different goal scorers and of that, four of them are new to high school soccer.”

Senior Olivia Barber was strong in the middle of the field for Louisburg as she tallied a goal and an assist, while sophomore Adyson Ross also scored her first varsity goal in the victory.

Sophomore Nova Ptacek and junior Reese Johnson added an assist each. Seniors Emma Christy and Madi Quinn each had a shot on goal, along with freshman Hailey Sword.