Kennedy girls forge tie atop MVC soccer standings
The Kennedy girls soccer team pulled even with Washington atop the Mississippi Valley Conference's Mississippi Division standings Thursday night.
The Cougars, who trailed the Warriors by one game in the standings coming into the game, pitched a shutout with a 2-0 victory at Kingston Stadium.
“It is a big deal to us because we have won the conference for the past four or five years now so it is kind of a tradition we want to hold,” said Kennedy senior forward Shauna Happel. “The fact that they were one game ahead of us coming into the game made us that much more motivation to beat them. We don’t want to lose to Wash and we don’t
want to lose the conference championship, so this was a big one for us.”
Freshman forward Emily Feltes led the way for the Cougars putting in both goals.
“She is one of several freshmen that are just really talented and as they are figuring out the high school system compared to playing in their age appropriate teams, they are doing well,” said Kennedy Coach Homer Screws. “She is really talented, she has a strong foot and she is a true forward. She likes to score goals so it is a nice thing to have.”
Feltes’ first goal came in the 29th minute when she headed a beautiful cross from fellow freshman Kaela Dickerman into the back of the net. Feltes struck again in the 65th minute. She wrestled the ball away from a Washington defender and took advantage of the Warrior keeper coming out and netted her second goal of the night.”
“Teamwork is how it happened,” Feltes said. “It wasn’t me, we all worked together to get those goals.”
The Kennedy defense also came up big, holding the Warriors' attack at bay and forcing them to take tough shots all night long.
“I think we have a lot of talent in our back,” Screws said. “I think it is going to be hard to score goals against us, if we deliver. They are just really talented, physically strong and they have good heads on their shoulders.”
As the season is coming to a close, the Cougars are starting to hit their stride at the right time. They have won four games in a row since a tough 3-1 loss at Xavier.
“I think, coming down the stretch we are getting a lot more activity from everyone,” Happel said. “Like the defense, everyone is starting to learn how people move so we are able to predict each other’s runs and move accordingly.”
Each team has one more conference game left in the regular season. Kennedy faces Cedar Falls (7-8, 4-7) on May 23 and Washington plays Dubuque Hempstead (7-7, 5-6) on May 24. If both the Warriors and the Cougars win, they will share the conference crown.
Kennedy 2, Washington 0
Goals -- CRK: Emily Feltes 2 (29th and 65th min). Assists -- CRK: Kaela Dickerman.
