Trojans put Prairie Stars on ice in playoff blow-out last Friday

November 12, 2008
By Robert Jackson
Sports Writer

Photo by David Clary Kelli Kubal scrambles to make one of her 11 saves during the loss.

What turned out to be a nasty and brutal day for soccer yielded an even uglier outcome for the Prairie Stars against the Hannibal-LaGrange Trojans.

The women’s soccer team managed four shots on goal and played in their half of the field for much of the game

“We struggled at possessing the ball today,” Head Coach Pete Kowall said. “Our possession was either kick-and-run or play at the feet. When we’d try and play at the feet, our players would make runs, or when we were trying to send balls, our players would stay.

The 35 degree weather and gusty wind last Friday affected both teams. For Kowall, he attempted to limit his team’s exposure to the chilly conditions, with the team arriving just under 30 minutes before the start of the game. This lead to what Kowall described as a “warm up rather rushed.”

Trojans Head Coach Jason Nichols switched his wing players’ sides, moving Noella Bigirimana from the left to the right and Leslie Gordon from the right to the left. The wind, which blew from the right side of the field to the left for most of the game, limited Gordon’s touches on the ball, and Nichols made the move about 25 minutes into the game.

Shortly after the switch, at the 30:13 mark, Bigirimana buried a cross just outside the six yard box from Adrianna Perez to give the Trojans their first goal of the game.

At 35:21, Alyssa Askew lofted a corner from the right corner of the field. The ball floated in the gusty wind, over the Prairie Stars defense, and dropped perfectly to Perez, who was standing at the back post. Perez tapped the ball in easily, using the inside of her cleat to guide the ball in and tuck it just inside the corner of the net.

And finally, four minutes before halftime, the Trojans netted their final goal after Katelyn Rogles headed in a ball just inside the six yard box off a deflection from a shot that rebounded off the crossbar.

“Once we got one (goal), the rest just came,” Nichol said after the game.

The Prairie Stars defense attempted to adjust to a Trojan side that came into the match 2-2, with two losses against McKendree and Missouri Baptist. Both matches were decided by one goal.

Nichol pointed to a new focus on possessing the ball and also playing tighter and more as a unit on the defensive side of the ball as particular strengths during his team’s quality stretch of good soccer.

For the Prairie Stars their season ends against the team they beat to record their first ever victory.

View more photos at the Photo Essay