The Wildcats played well against the offensive power house of Platte County High School on Saturday in the Championship game. While the loss was disappointing for the girls, it was a telling 1-0 defeat. Platte County went 24-1 last season falling to Smithville in their Class 2 District 7 semifinal last year. The Pirates are currently ranked 10th in the state in the high school preseason coaches poll. This would have been the third straight year that the teams would meet in the tournaments championship game except last year's game was canceled twice for rain.
The Pirates attacked with ease throughout the game but the Cats were able to find space and threatened a few times with shots on goal and through balls behind the air tight defense. Karson Wilson thought she had tied the game in the second half but it was called back for offsides. Whitney Smith scored the Pirates winning goal and Alisha Hoskins earned the well deserved shutout.
While not the result they had hoped for, this game showed the girls can play great soccer against great teams. They stayed focused on the defensive side and really hustled all over the field. It is still early in the season so there is plenty of time to work on finding space against high pressure teams and working the ball out of the back when transitioning off defense. We have a great crop of new talent coming up and they are starting to fit nicely with the rest of the team veterans.
I was really impressed with the quality of the Platte County side and had a wonderful time at the tournament throughout the week. Great teams, coaching, fans...heck even the refs were nice. And if you didn't already know, "Official time is kept on the field". :-)
It was a pleasure to see Chris Miller (former H'ville coach and current Platte County Middle School Principal) and his son Zane at the tourney. Chris caught me on facebook and wrote the following:
"It was great seeing you and the girls. It is so cool to see them all grown up and doing well. It is also great to see that the program is progressing nicely and fielding quality teams from year to year. The game was a good one for both teams. I know the Hville girls were disappointed with the late offsides call which negated their goal. Either way I think they surprised our girls and kept them off balance the entire game. Both teams were in it until the last whistle and both had some chances. Maybe we will run into each other at another game. Take care!"
Thanks for a wonderful tourney.
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