LCA Bows Out With Loss To Westview
October 8, 2020 at 2:43 a.m.
LCA Bows Out With Loss To Westview
By Steve Krah-
But the Cougars did not go down without a fight.
A 1-0 loss to Westview (7-7-2) put LCA (3-6-2) out of the IHSAA Class 1A Elkhart Christian Sectional.
“I was happy with my girls tonight,” said Cougars coach Nat Raber. “We were flying all over the place and communication was there.
“Hat’s off (to Westview). They’re a really good team. They scored on a perfectly-placed shot. There’s not much we can do about that. We had our opportunities and we played them tough.
“I don’t measure us by wins and losses. That was the best game we had played all season. It was a complete effort. We had some good ball movement. We strung some passes together, which we had not been doing this year. We didn’t sit and watch the game. We actually engaged in the play.”
The lone goal of the match came in the 11th minute. Sophomore Paige Riegsecker took a pass from sophomore Andrea Miller knocked the ball past LCA sophomore goalkeeper Finley Hobbs, who made 15 saves under the lights at Talon Field.
The Warriors produced 16 shots on goal to one for the Cougars. Senior Hailee Caldwell made one goalie save for Westview.
Raber saw Warrior defenders pay extra attention to junior striker Jessi Calizo.
“That’s a good way to stop our offense,” said Calizo.
Yoder said his team was especially focused on Cougars junior striker Jessi Calizo.
“Calizo is a wonderful player,” said Westview coach Ryan Yoder. “She’s a lot of fun to watch. We’ve had great players we’ve played against all year long that we’ve had to defend well. We made sure we contained (Calizo) and bottled her up.”
Raber’s team went with a familiar strategy.
“We’re more of a defensive-minded team,” said Raber. “We were able to rack up goals but a lot of those goals came out counters.
“We’re really used to absorbing, bending and not breaking. We play with five back almost all the time.”
Tuesday’s marked the last match in the career’s of six LCA seniors — Jordan Goss, Joy Hanes, Avery Hobbs, Liza Schmitt Wendy Schmitt and Hannah Starrett.
“They’re good players but better people,” said Raber, who has coached the Cougars the past four seasons. “They are something special.
“They played so well. They mean so much to me personally. They mean so much to the team and the program.”
These seniors were part of the class that brought girls soccer back at Lakeland Christian as freshmen after the program was dormant for several years.
In Tuesday’s other match, Bethany Christian (11-4-2) was a 1-0 winner against Central Noble (3-11-1) on a goal in the 62nd minute by sophomore Paige Riegsecker. The semifinals on Thursday pit Bethany against Westview at 5 p.m., followed by Elkhart Christian against Lakewood Park Christian.
The championship is slated for 2 p.m. Saturday.
But the Cougars did not go down without a fight.
A 1-0 loss to Westview (7-7-2) put LCA (3-6-2) out of the IHSAA Class 1A Elkhart Christian Sectional.
“I was happy with my girls tonight,” said Cougars coach Nat Raber. “We were flying all over the place and communication was there.
“Hat’s off (to Westview). They’re a really good team. They scored on a perfectly-placed shot. There’s not much we can do about that. We had our opportunities and we played them tough.
“I don’t measure us by wins and losses. That was the best game we had played all season. It was a complete effort. We had some good ball movement. We strung some passes together, which we had not been doing this year. We didn’t sit and watch the game. We actually engaged in the play.”
The lone goal of the match came in the 11th minute. Sophomore Paige Riegsecker took a pass from sophomore Andrea Miller knocked the ball past LCA sophomore goalkeeper Finley Hobbs, who made 15 saves under the lights at Talon Field.
The Warriors produced 16 shots on goal to one for the Cougars. Senior Hailee Caldwell made one goalie save for Westview.
Raber saw Warrior defenders pay extra attention to junior striker Jessi Calizo.
“That’s a good way to stop our offense,” said Calizo.
Yoder said his team was especially focused on Cougars junior striker Jessi Calizo.
“Calizo is a wonderful player,” said Westview coach Ryan Yoder. “She’s a lot of fun to watch. We’ve had great players we’ve played against all year long that we’ve had to defend well. We made sure we contained (Calizo) and bottled her up.”
Raber’s team went with a familiar strategy.
“We’re more of a defensive-minded team,” said Raber. “We were able to rack up goals but a lot of those goals came out counters.
“We’re really used to absorbing, bending and not breaking. We play with five back almost all the time.”
Tuesday’s marked the last match in the career’s of six LCA seniors — Jordan Goss, Joy Hanes, Avery Hobbs, Liza Schmitt Wendy Schmitt and Hannah Starrett.
“They’re good players but better people,” said Raber, who has coached the Cougars the past four seasons. “They are something special.
“They played so well. They mean so much to me personally. They mean so much to the team and the program.”
These seniors were part of the class that brought girls soccer back at Lakeland Christian as freshmen after the program was dormant for several years.
In Tuesday’s other match, Bethany Christian (11-4-2) was a 1-0 winner against Central Noble (3-11-1) on a goal in the 62nd minute by sophomore Paige Riegsecker. The semifinals on Thursday pit Bethany against Westview at 5 p.m., followed by Elkhart Christian against Lakewood Park Christian.
The championship is slated for 2 p.m. Saturday.
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