Whitko Falls In Girls Soccer Sectional Action
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Facing the Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran Lady Cadets (9-9) in first-round action at the Fort Wayne Sport Club, the Whitko Lady Wildcats (5-7-4) lost 1-0, but coach Gary Sims was pleased with the effort.
“I’m very proud of how we played,” he said. “I only wish we could have played like this all season. Part of that is me. We switched up our defense the last three games, and it’s helped.
“It’s nice to keep it close against a team like this, because they did a lot of passing,” he said. “It’s good to see a team work the ball, because that’s what we work on in practice. We’re going to learn from this. I have a lot of young girls, unfortunately, I also have a lot of seniors.”
Among those seniors is starting goalkeeper Jordan Hall and leading goal-scorer Ellyana Blue, along with the entire defensive back line.
“We’re going to miss Jordan in the box, that’s for darn sure,” Sims said. “Ellyana out front, she’s going to be tough to replace. Christina Baughman on defense, Kelly (Reiff) on defense, Candice (Swick) on defense – my whole defensive back is gone. Sydney (Sims), who didn’t get to play a lot (because of an ACL injury), she’s gone too. They’re all going to be lost. I had nine seniors, 10 counting the manager, out of 26.”
In the finale, Hall posted five saves, but there wasn’t much she could do on the lone goal scored.
Concordia got its score after the ball was sent into the box, where freshman Rachel Widenhofer tried to corral it, before it got over to senior Kayla Deaton who punched it in from point-blank range.
The score held up and propelled Concordia into Thursday’s 5 p.m. semifinal against Heritage, which defeated Woodlan 6-0 earlier in the evening.
Concordia’s defense stymied Whitko all night, allowing just two shots, with the only shot on goal coming from Blue with 11 minutes remaining in the contest.
Despite the lack of offense, Sims was happy the girls’ performance as a whole.
“They weren’t over-running as much,” he said. “They did over-run, but not as bad. We had a couple give-and-goes that we’ve been trying to get to work for quite some time. Obviously, we didn’t have the offensive looks that we would have liked to have had, but we played solid ball. We were spread out. We bunched up a few times, but they ‘got’ it. Unfortunately, it’s the last game when they started to figure it out.”
With Eastbrook and Whitko swapping sectionals, the Lady Wildcats must now step their game up moving forward, as fourth-ranked Fort Wayne Bishop Luers and 10th-ranked Fort Wayne Canterbury each participate in Sectional 37.
“When I first noticed we were over here (in sectional 37), it was a disappointment,” Sims said about moving from Sectional 38, which his Whitko team won in 2011. “At the Blackford Sectional, everybody’s level. It’s very competitive. It’s anybody’s game over there. Knowing that we’re here, we’re going to have to step it up. We have to.”
F.W. CONCORDIA 1, WHITKO 0
(Sectional 37, 1st Rd.)
C – Kayla Deaton (Rachel Widenhofer) 44th min.
Shots – Concordia 13, Whitko 2; Shots on Goal – Concordia 6, Whitko 1; Saves – Concordia (Samantha Berning) 1, Whitko (Jordan Hall) 5; Fouls – Concordia 3, Whitko 4; Corner Kicks – Concordia 11, Whitko 1
Records: Concordia 9-9, Whitko 5-7-4[[In-content Ad]]
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Facing the Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran Lady Cadets (9-9) in first-round action at the Fort Wayne Sport Club, the Whitko Lady Wildcats (5-7-4) lost 1-0, but coach Gary Sims was pleased with the effort.
“I’m very proud of how we played,” he said. “I only wish we could have played like this all season. Part of that is me. We switched up our defense the last three games, and it’s helped.
“It’s nice to keep it close against a team like this, because they did a lot of passing,” he said. “It’s good to see a team work the ball, because that’s what we work on in practice. We’re going to learn from this. I have a lot of young girls, unfortunately, I also have a lot of seniors.”
Among those seniors is starting goalkeeper Jordan Hall and leading goal-scorer Ellyana Blue, along with the entire defensive back line.
“We’re going to miss Jordan in the box, that’s for darn sure,” Sims said. “Ellyana out front, she’s going to be tough to replace. Christina Baughman on defense, Kelly (Reiff) on defense, Candice (Swick) on defense – my whole defensive back is gone. Sydney (Sims), who didn’t get to play a lot (because of an ACL injury), she’s gone too. They’re all going to be lost. I had nine seniors, 10 counting the manager, out of 26.”
In the finale, Hall posted five saves, but there wasn’t much she could do on the lone goal scored.
Concordia got its score after the ball was sent into the box, where freshman Rachel Widenhofer tried to corral it, before it got over to senior Kayla Deaton who punched it in from point-blank range.
The score held up and propelled Concordia into Thursday’s 5 p.m. semifinal against Heritage, which defeated Woodlan 6-0 earlier in the evening.
Concordia’s defense stymied Whitko all night, allowing just two shots, with the only shot on goal coming from Blue with 11 minutes remaining in the contest.
Despite the lack of offense, Sims was happy the girls’ performance as a whole.
“They weren’t over-running as much,” he said. “They did over-run, but not as bad. We had a couple give-and-goes that we’ve been trying to get to work for quite some time. Obviously, we didn’t have the offensive looks that we would have liked to have had, but we played solid ball. We were spread out. We bunched up a few times, but they ‘got’ it. Unfortunately, it’s the last game when they started to figure it out.”
With Eastbrook and Whitko swapping sectionals, the Lady Wildcats must now step their game up moving forward, as fourth-ranked Fort Wayne Bishop Luers and 10th-ranked Fort Wayne Canterbury each participate in Sectional 37.
“When I first noticed we were over here (in sectional 37), it was a disappointment,” Sims said about moving from Sectional 38, which his Whitko team won in 2011. “At the Blackford Sectional, everybody’s level. It’s very competitive. It’s anybody’s game over there. Knowing that we’re here, we’re going to have to step it up. We have to.”
F.W. CONCORDIA 1, WHITKO 0
(Sectional 37, 1st Rd.)
C – Kayla Deaton (Rachel Widenhofer) 44th min.
Shots – Concordia 13, Whitko 2; Shots on Goal – Concordia 6, Whitko 1; Saves – Concordia (Samantha Berning) 1, Whitko (Jordan Hall) 5; Fouls – Concordia 3, Whitko 4; Corner Kicks – Concordia 11, Whitko 1
Records: Concordia 9-9, Whitko 5-7-4[[In-content Ad]]
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