Wildcats win second straight as they down Leavenworth in home opener

It is two matches and two wins for the Louisburg girls soccer team to begin its season and its latest victory came Thursday against Leavenworth in the Wildcats’ hope opener.

The Wildcats scored a pair of goals and came away with a 2-1 victory over the Pioneers. Although it wasn’t the cleanest of matches, the improvements were definitely there from game one to game two.

“I saw lots of progress,” Louisburg coach Ben York said. “We are pretty fit right now and most of them played the entire game. We are having some difficulty in getting our forwards involved, but those are all things that time will fix as we move forward and get more comfortable with each other.”

Louisburg (2-0) got things going late in the first half offensively. Senior Lola Edwards brought the ball up through the midfield and found an open Baileigh Johnson.

Johnson sprinted down the right side, and after a pass from Edwards, Johnson shot the ball over the goalie’s outstretched arms and found the back of the net to give the Wildcats the lead.

Early in the second half, Johnson found the back of the net again. Senior Hailey Sword pushed the ball up the field and found Johnson.

The Louisburg junior took a shot just outside the box and put the Wildcats up, 2-0, less than two minutes into the second half. It was Johnson’s first two goals of the season.

“Baileigh has made a huge improvement and feels more comfortable in what she is doing,” York said. “She killed it at the JV level last year and came up with varsity to play some big minutes at times. She is confident this year and I think she is the most improved player we have right now.”

Leavenworth broke the shutout a few minutes later, but the Wildcats dominated possession from start to finish. 

“We are still learning and it is a new group with new faces,” York said. “I am giving them some freedom to work some things out in the back. I want them to get better. It is another game where if we play marginally to our strengths, we might win going away. 

“I’m happy with where half of our players are right now. I am gettin what I am expecting out of them and the other half is moving toward that. We have things we want to fix, but that is going to take time. We could be 0-2, and I would still be confident with where we are heading. The wins are good though and that builds confidence. This upcoming week will be a long week, but the most important thing is we need to stay healthy.”

The Wildcats will try for their third straight win tonight as they square off with Sumner Academy in the first round of the Turner Invitational. The match is slated to begin at 6:30 p.m.

If the Wildcats get a victory, they will play the winner between Turner and Bonner Springs on Wednesday. The final game of the tournament will take place Friday.