Penalty kick gives Wildcats upset victory over Spring Hill

By Andy Brown
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Updated: September 25, 2023

Andy Brown / Louisburg Sports Zone

Louisburg junior Emmett White celebrates with his teammates after converting a penalty kick Thursday at home against Spring Hill.

It had been a rough eight-game stretch for the Louisburg boys soccer team.

After winning their season opener, the Wildcats were in the midst of an eight-game losing streak when Spring Hill came to town Thursday.

The streak is no more.

Louisburg upset a Spring Hill squad, that is one of the top teams in the Frontier League, 1-0, as the Wildcats picked up their first league victory.

The Wildcats scored on a penalty kick early in the second half. The match was then called with 27 minutes remaining in regulation due to inclement weather.

“Getting the win was a huge boost for the guys — one that we really needed,” Louisburg coach Bobby Bovaird said. “LHS soccer hasn’t experienced something a streak like that for a long time, and this program is accustomed to winning games. This year, the mindset has been that while we may run into teams with more talent and experience, we’re not going to let anyone out-hustle us. No one plays with greater heart than we do, and that’s what it took to pull off the win against Spring Hill. That, and a little help from Mother Nature.”

The match was scoreless at halftime, but the Wildcats got on the board just minutes into the second half.

Junior forward Jose Cuevas was fouled in the box and Louisburg was awarded a penalty kick. Junior Emmett White took the chance and found the back of the net to give the Wildcats the lead.

“Emmett has been a great leader with his work ethic and energy,” Bovaird said. “He’s a silent leader in a lot of ways, but when he scores a goal, you get to see a lot of emotion come out with him. That PK was a big confidence booster, not just for him, but for the rest of the guys as well.

“We came into the second half knowing that there was bad weather looming on the horizon and that Spring Hill had probably just gotten ripped by their coach. We knew that time was not on our side and that we needed to be ready for them to come at us hard. Jose got a great opportunity to take the ball to goal, he got fouled inside the box, and we were able to have Emmett put it away.”

***Forward Jose Cuevas tries to settle a ball Thursday against Spring Hill.***

The match ensued for another five minutes before lightning in the area delayed the match. It was eventually called as one half of completed action is enough for an official game.

However, Spring Hill nearly had a goal early in the first half. The Broncos found the back of the net in the 12th minute, but the goal was disallowed as the Broncos were called for interference with the goalie.

Louisburg goalie Evan Moreland had a busy game with five saves to go along with four blocked shots to earn the clean sheet. One of those saves was just a minute before the match was called as Moreland stopped a shot right before the ball was about to cross the line.

The Wildcat defense of Ethan Sharp, Dan Minster, Will Showalter, Cole Clover and Mika McKitrick tried to hold off the Bronco attack as long as they could.

Spring Hill controlled possession for much of the match and took 21 shots and had six corner kicks during the 53 minutes of action. Still, the Wildcats did enough to get their second win of the season.

The Wildcats (2-8) will try for back-to-back wins Tuesday when they travel to Chanute. The match is slated to begin at 6 p.m.