by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
Kansas City Kansas Community College’s women’s soccer team opened the 2019 season Thursday with a 5-0 blanking of State Fair that even impressed coach Shawn Uhlenhake.
“Pleasantly surprised,” said Uhlenhake. “For the first game, I thought we looked well organized. We came out with a lot of effort but I thought after 15 minutes we might slack off a little. Instead, we kept pressure on them the entire 90 minutes.”
Freshmen scored all five Blue Devil goals. Madison Broeker of Lincoln (Nebraska) North Star got the first and Corrine Hughes of Grand Valley and Katrina Sargent of North Star added two each as KCKCC dominated ball possession from start to finish
Meanwhile, the Blue Devil defense led by freshman goalkeeper Jaidyn Takaishi of Olathe North and team captain Sydney Guerra, a sophomore from Perry, Iowa, gave up only one shot on goal while the Blue Devils were peppering State Fair goalkeeper Samantha Curphey with 19 shots.
“As a group, I thought it was one of the best defensive efforts I’ve seen,” Uhlenhake said. “Sydney Guerra really did a good job of organizing the back line. And I was impressed by our depth. Our level of play did not drop off when we made changes in the lineup.”
KCKCC broke a scoreless deadlock 33 minutes into the first half, Broeker maneuvering a shot past Curphey on a corner kick from SM West freshman Kayley Pedersen. Hughes then scored back-to-back goals for a 3-0 halftime lead. The first came on a perfect assist from Mill Valley freshman Caroline Rutledge, whose kick hit Hughes in full stride.
“A great kick,” said Hughes, who then added her second goal on an assist from Topeka Seaman freshman Jaidyn Yingling with 13 minutes left in the half.
Sargent’s first goal 22 minutes in the second half was unassisted.
“She battled her way to the goal,” said KCKCC assistant coach Sara Matthews. Rutledge got her second assist on Sargent’s second goal.
The Blue Devils return to action Sunday, Sept. 1, when they play host to Iowa Central in a noon start. The KCKCC men also play Iowa Central at 2 p.m.
