by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
Just five minutes and 46 seconds separated Kansas City Kansas Community College and its first-ever women’s soccer win over Johnson County Tuesday.
As it was, the Lady Blue Devils and Cavaliers battled through two 10-minutes overtimes in a 2-2 deadlock. The tie left KCKCC at 1-1-2 heading into another Jayhawk Conference clash at Allen County Saturday at 2 p.m. with a men’s game to follow at 4 p.m.
KCKCC twice led JCCC Tuesday. An unassisted goal from the left hash mark by freshman Cristina Alvarez gave KCKCC a 1-0 lead at the 36:47 mark of the first half only to have JCCC sophomore Manuela Gonzalez tie it on a perfectly placed kick from 20 yards that sailed just under the cross bar at the 17:39 mark.
The Lady Blue Devils then went ahead 2-1 in the opening two minutes of the second half, Shawnee Heights sophomore Jessica Hill slipping between two defenders to knock in a well-placed corner kick by DeSoto sophomore Carmen Rush.
For the next 38 minutes, freshman goalkeeper Alee Alter and a corps of defenders turned away kick after kick only to have the Cavaliers’ Megan Nugent tie it with a kick just inside the box with 5:46 left.
“We had two very good opportunities in overtime but Johnson County’s goalkeeper made a good play on one and their defenders turned away the other one,” KCKCC coach Shawn Uhlenhake said.
The first head coach to play JCCC’s women to a tie, Uhlenhake was ecstatic about the play of his defense.
“The defense was great,” he said. “It was under pressure for the majority of the game. JCCC took a lot of shots but all of the shots were pretty much pressured by our defense. And Alee Alter did a great job in goal making sure all their shots were secured.”
Alee was credited with eight saves and it would have been more had not Blue Devil defenders Madison Plake, Sydney Guerra, Alex Schemmel, Micayla Nemnich and Carmen Rush turned away JCCC attackers – an exceptional performance considering the game was played in 90-degree heat.
“We’re playing at lot of freshmen and they played hard to give us a chance to win,” Uhlenhake said. “Once they learn how to play the game this team could be dangerous.”
