The Lady Neers soccer team travelled north to Scott High School for the 18th District Final against the upstart Dixie Colonels. The Lady Neers have had some outstanding performances lately and there was little doubt that the girls had a chance to come away with their 6th straight District Title. Unfortunately, SK left their “A” game back in Independence as the girls had a tendency to want to blast the ball everywhere but to the feet of their teammates. Don't get me wrong, they played hard but just not with the level of passing that they have shown recently. It was apparent early on that it just wasn’t going to be the girls’ night as Dixie put a lot of pressure on the SK defense. Dixie would get two first half goals; the first off of an unlucky bounce and the second when the Colonel midfielder simply went to goal with some nice footwork. Dixie would add two more goals in the second half as their attackers came off some nice lateral runs on direct free kicks that ended up for scores.
The good news for the girls is their season isn’t over and they have a chance to put things back together and make a run at the regional title. There is no doubt that they have the skill and talent to win the region. The other thing that convinces me of this is the fact I could see it in the player’s faces tonight that they knew that they didn’t play their best soccer. I saw some tears and disappointment which tells me they aren’t finished. This is a great group of senior girls who will get it together before next week. They will play next Tuesday at Dixie at a time to be announced.
Freshman Abel with a slide tackle in the first half.
The Bulldog played hard as usual. I've watched this player enough to know she wasn't satisified with the game tonight.
Coach Barwell trying to rally the troops at half-time.
