The girls’ soccer team will continue the road to state after beating Shawnee Mission North (SMN) 4-0 at the Shawnee Mission Soccer Complex (SMSC) on Wednesday, May 15.
The game began with a moment of silence dedicated to the memory of Tyler Rathbun. The girls’ soccer team is dedicating their entire season to Rathbun and are wearing armbands during playoffs. The blue armbands were handmade by the team and have “Ty” ironed onto them.
Within seconds of the start of the game, senior Addison Steiner was substituted out. Steiner missed 12 games her junior year with a MCL injury so her being substituted out so quickly was concerning. However, the team was still easily able to take control of the game. The team had many shots on goals but were often called offsides. Overall, the tempo of the game was much slower than usually played by the Lancers. East previously beat North 6-0 in league play and this was the first time the Lancers did not beat them in a mercy ruling. Around the 21 minute mark, Steiner was substituted back in and didn’t show any signs of injury.
Five minutes after being substituted back in, Steiner scored the first goal for the Lancers. She received a pass from senior Anna Colby at the 40 yard box, quickly dribbled around a SMN defender and easily put it in the back of the net.
Two minutes later, with 14 minutes left in the half, Steiner scored for the second time. This marked her 23 goal of her senior season, surpassing the boys’ soccer record of 22 goals, held by Rathbun. Steiner now holds second place of the East record of all-time active goals scored during a regular season for girls’ soccer. The girls’ record is held by Carrie Fry who scored 36 goals her senior year in 2001.
The team finished the half with a 2-0 lead. The team had many shots on goal throughout the game, including shots from juniors Victoria Sabates, Kelly Pidcoe and Emily Dodd.
The team started off the second half with a close shot that went just over the crossbar. The Lancers took numerous free kicks this half but were not able to capitalize on any of them. Colby, Steiner, Sabates and Pidcoe all had many shots on goal, as well as freshman Georgia Weigel. Weigel noticed that the North goalkeeper was out of position and launched the ball far from behind the 40 yard box. Unfortunately the shot was slightly wide.
With 18 minutes left in the game, senior Anna Sheridan received a pass from Steiner to score the third goal for the Lancers. Steiner dribbled down the field straight to the goalkeeper but at the last second, passed it off to Sheridan who only needed to tap the ball in to score. This put the Lancers up 3-0 with playtime quickly dwindling.
The Lancers were able to maintain possession of the ball for the rest of the game despite the increase of physicality from North. As the game was winding down, junior Victoria Sabates was able to catch the Indian defense off guard to score the Lancers’ last goal of the game. The Lancers increased the lead 4-0 with only 25 seconds left to play.
Despite the slower tempo, the Lancers were able to pull of a win. The team will be playing Blue Valley North in the regionals final on Field #3 at SMSC. Kickoff will start at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 17. Check back for updates on the team’s road to state.
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