Wildcats bounce back with road victory over Lansing

Louisburg defender Sammy McDaniel clears a ball out of the back during a match earlier this season. The Wildcats went on the road and came away with a 3-0 win Friday at Lansing.

Sometimes the best thing to happen after a loss is the opportunity to get right back on the field, and Friday it certainly helped the Louisburg girls soccer team.

Following a 2-0 loss to Eudora on Thursday, the Wildcats traveled to Lansing the very next day in hopes of putting that loss behind them. It did the trick as Louisburg blanked the Lions in a 3-0 victory and the Wildcats are now 8-4 on the season.

“Playing back-to-back is difficult, and having limited players, we had a big challenge head of us,” Louisburg coach Kyle Conley said. “We came out and dominated the game, and had a lot of shots. We pressed a little bit and were trying to do too much. We finally settled down and played our game. 

“We played well, but just could not find the back of the net. We had a ridiculous amount of opportunities, but they packed it in and made it difficult to get any shots through to the goal. Credit to them, but they had a lot of blocked shots. We grinded it out and then we really played well. I liked how our girls found a way and played so hard.”

Goals were hard to come by early on in the contest as the match was scoreless at halftime, despite the Wildcats having opportunities on goal.

It all changed in the second half.

Freshman Hailey Sword got the ball just inside the box and sent a shot past the Lansing goalie for the team’s first score about 15 minutes into the second half.

Several minutes later, Louisburg struck again. Senior Emma Christy took the ball down the left side and put a shot on goal. The shot was knocked away, but freshman Lola Edwards was there to get the rebound and tap it in for the goal.

Sophomore Tehya Harvey found herself in a scrum in front of the goal just moments later and sealed the win with a score of her own to put the Wildcats up three.

The Louisburg defense didn’t allow a shot on goal for the entire game, while junior goalie Sierra Hahn earned the clean sheet for the Wildcats

The schedule doesn’t let up any for Louisburg as it will play its fourth game in seven days today when the Wildcats travel to Basehor-Linwood. Game time is set for 6 p.m.

Wildcats fall to Eudora on road

After defeating Eudora earlier in the season, the Cardinals got their payback on Louisburg as they handed the Wildcats a 2-0 setback Thursday in Eudora.

Louisburg had some opportunities, but Cardinals took advantage of theirs as they converted a penalty kick and scored another in the second half to pull away.

“Eudora came out and played with a massive amount of energy,” Conley said. “The game was pretty back and forth, but we struggled to finish our chances. They had limited chances, but capitalized on them. We struggled to find the back of the net. We played hard and had a decent amount of possession but could not get the ball to the back of the net. 

“A debatable penalty kick was called and that gave them the lead. Then in the second half their player hit a fantastic shot for them to go up two. I thought we played as well as they did and that the game was not a 2-0 difference. It was a tough game but there were lots of opportunities for us to learn from and to get better.”

Junior Reese Johnson had two shots on goal for the Wildcats, while freshmen Lexi Hampton and Lola Edwards also had good looks at the goal.