Buffington’s first goal seals rout of Bonner Springs

Louisburg senior Carson Buffington finds the back of the net Thursday on this shot to record her first varsity goal. Buffington also earned the shutout as the Wildcats’ goalie in the 10-0 win over Bonner Springs.

Carson Buffington knew this could be her last shot.

The Louisburg goalie had a chance to play in the field earlier this season against Ottawa in hopes of scoring her first-ever goal. Buffington came up short in her one opportunity and Wildcat head coach Kyle Conley was going to give her one final chance.

“Carson doesn’t have a lot of soccer experience, but she mentioned to me that she wanted to try and score a goal,” Conley said “We tried against Ottawa and couldn’t get it to work. I told her she would get one more chance, but I didn’t know when it would be.”

That chance come on Thursday and Buffington took full advantage.

With the Wildcats up nine goals on Bonner Springs at halftime in Louisburg, Buffington battled through the Bonner Springs defense as she forced her way into the box and put a shot in the back of the net early in the second half to give Louisburg a 10-0 win.

“She was like a bull in a china shop,” Conley said. “Carson was just running through kids and bulldozing her way in there. She is a kid who just started playing her sophomore year and was scared to death of it at first. We got her some reps last year and has taken full advantage of being the starting goalkeeper this year.

“Obviously this game got to the point where we could give her a shot at it. It is a really cool moment for her and the girls got all excited for her. It is always good to see the kids play for something that is bigger than themselves and playing for their teammates. That is the stuff that our program is all about.”

It was an offensive explosion for Louisburg as it started with Mackenzie Scholtz. The Louisburg junior had a hat trick 20 minutes into the contest and finished with a game-high five goals as she ripped through the Bonner Springs defense.

Junior Morgan Messer also had her best game on the varsity level as she recorded a hat trick and the two players accounted eight of the team’s 10 goals.

“The kids have been busting their butt,” Conley said. “We talk all the time if you are the bench that you are paying attention to what is going on and what to do, so when you get your opportunity, you take advantage of it. Morgan took full advantage of what they gave her. It is good to get her going again and it is a pretty good time to do it.”

Bonner Springs opened the game by playing a high line and tried to frustrate the Wildcat attack by forcing them offsides. It worked for the first few minutes of the contest, but the Wildcats quickly figured it out.

Scholtz scored the first three goals of the match on assists from Erin Lemke and Skylar Bowman. Messer then answered with a goal thanks to an assist from Olivia Barber, and Trinity Moore won a 50-50 ball in the box for a score that led to a 5-0 advantage.

Messer answered with two more goals late in the first half on assists from Emma Christy and Moore, Scholtz added two more to make it a 9-0 halftime advantage.

“Bonner had kind of a jail break on their high line that they played,” Conley said. “They would run everyone up and it took a little while for the girls to read it and understand it. They just needed to give four of five more yards, so when they come running up, then we just run right back at them. We have enough speed on top where we probably left five or six on the board in the first half. The girls played hard and I was pleased with the adjustments they made.”

Buffington’s goal early in the second half ended the match with the mercy rule and gave the Wildcat keeper another shutout. Louisburg’s defense didn’t give up many opportunities as Kaitlyn Lewer, Julianne Finley, Madison Quinn, Avery O’Meara and Hallie Hutsell all played strong in the back.

The Wildcats (10-3) have one final week of regular season play remaining and it is a big one as they are scheduled to play three times this week. Louisburg will begin that gauntlet at 3:30 today when it travels to Tonganoxie.

“It is a big week and there is a lot of spots to gain or lose, Conley said. “Looking at the seedings, we are probably going to be a top four seed regardless of what happens but we could slide into the two spot or just stay at a three or four and just go from there. Hopefully we can play well.”

LOUISBURG ROUTS BASEHOR-LINWOOD FOR PROGRAM’S 50^th WIN

The duo of Erin Lemke and Mackenzie Scholtz proved to be too much for Basehor-Linwood last Monday in Louisburg.

Lemke had a career night as she finished with four goals, and Scholtz added a hat trick for herself as the Louisburg girls soccer team rolled Basehor-Linwood, 7-0, in Louisburg.

It was also an historic showing from the Wildcats as they recorded the program’s 50^th win in just their fourth year of existence.

“The girls came out and played pretty well,” Louisburg coach Kyle Conley said. “We worked on our inside runs a lot because the week before was just brutal. We just spent a lot of time in practice on where to be and where to cut and it just really paid off. It was really a big night and the girls played hard.

“Between Mackenzie, Erin and the two outside midfielders, we just pressed all the time. We caught defenders on their heels and we were able to play balls through. It is funny because when you get two steps on your defender, they just aren’t going to catch you. We worked on that timing and worked on when to get to that run instead of standing with that last defender. It gave us a head start.”

The Wildcats didn’t need much of a head start with the speed they have up top as Scholtz and Lemke each scored two goals to put Louisburg up 4-0 at halftime. The Wildcats didn’t slow down much as Lemke opened the second half with a pair of scores to all but seal the win.

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