Wildcats fall in overtime to Spring Hill in back-and-forth match

The Louisburg girls soccer team wanted to see how it stacked up against one of the top teams in the Frontier League — Spring Hill.

It has been a few years since the Wildcats came away with a win over the Broncos and they were hoping this time would be different.

For most of the match, Louisburg answered Spring Hill at every turn during its Thursday home game and eventually forced overtime.

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, Spring Hill had a little more left in the tank as the Broncos scored late in the first overtime period and handed Louisburg a 3-2 setback.

“It was just a middle of the season game, but the girls really built this one up, especially after they beat us pretty good last year,” Louisburg coach Ben York said. “This group of seniors have never beaten Spring Hill. One of our goals was to be competitive against good teams and we definitely were. We are still working on getting in better shape and that will come with time. It would have been a pretty big victory, but it was a super competitive game.”

Spring Hill scored first midway through the first half to take the early lead, but the Wildcats were able to respond late in the half and get some momentum going into halftime.

With about minute remaining, Louisburg junior Rowan Yows took a quick shot from about 25 yards out to even the match at 1-all. The shot sailed over the keepers head and into the corner of the net.

“We have been taking shots all season like that and I want the girls to take those opportunities,” York said. “I encourage our girls to take shots from distance and quick shots that were just like that. She, Hailey (Sword), Lola (Edwards) and Lexi (Hampton) are all capable of hitting shots like that. It was a really nice shot from Rowan.”

Fifteen minutes into the second half, Spring Hill took the lead again on a shot just inside the 18 that found the corner of the net.

It didn’t take long for the Wildcats to respond as senior Lexi Hampton scored two minutes later to tie it at 2-all. It stayed that way until the overtime period.

“We fought back every time Spring Hill scored and I am proud of them for that,” York said. “That is what I tried to emphasize the girls all season. Last year once a team scored, we couldn’t find ways to make things happen. We had an answer at two different times in the game to come back from being down. We talk about not getting too up or too down and just riding that wave and the girls showed a good attitude and a lot of fight.”

The Wildcat defense put together a strong showing all night as the back line of Hailey Sword, Jaden Bentz, Lila Edwards and Faith Sewell limited Spring Hill’s shots on goal.

However, Louisburg had a bit of tired legs as Spring Hill controlled the final 10 minutes of regulation and overtime before getting the game-winning score.

Although the Wildcats have now suffered back-to-back losses, they will try and get back on track today as they travel to Tonganoxie for a Frontier League matchup.