"Reign" Out

What a night for the SHS girls soccer program.  JV began the festivities by welcoming in two new players to ensure 11 healthy bodies on the field.  Things got started quickly for the Knights, as Kelsey Link earned Chik-Fil-A from Gregg by netting a goal off an assist from Livelsberger,who was playing forward for the first time this season.  Kelsey then returned the favor to Lauren Taylor, who scored her team-leading 6th goal of the season.  In between, a red card was given to a Caroline player for throwing a punch.  Cooler heads prevailed, and when Caroline chipped in a goal on a breakaway, the Knights countered with a goal from Livelsberger, connecting on a pass from LT to end the scoring.  Celia and Lauren Monroe played awesome defense, and Perry made seven saves to earn the win in goal.  Congratulations, JV, well done!

The Varsity game began with an emotional Senior Night celebration, where we honored our three Seniors - Olivia Sullivan, Lauren Stewart, and Katrina Rouse - for their hard work and dedication to the program.  Gregg Brooks also got surprised with an announcement and a polo for all that he has done as a manager and scorekeeper for the team.  He will be hard to replace!  Finally, the team honored their fallen teammate, Michelle Bonner, by presenting her jersey to her parents.  This was a class move by the program, and it was greatly appreciated by the Bonners.  Because of the festivities, the team was forced to begin without a warm-up.  Then, after about 12 minutes of play, a flash from a camera spooked the officials into a 30-minute lightening delay.  Leave it to the Lady Knights to find new and creative ways to entertain themselves, working on both the human knot and a human pyramid.  Once the game restarted, however, the team was all business.

Michelle Aldinger, Nikki Donnelly, and Aggy Johnson all scored twice and added an assist for their play.  Dinger's goal was especially sweet, coming off of a header on a cross from the right side.  Aggy continuously broke the ankles of the Caroline defenders, and Donnelly got a goal WITH HER RIGHT FOOT.  Tiffany Hare also scored a goal by being "Johnny-on-the-spot" and added an assist as well.  Lauren Luttrell earned some time at forward by netting a goal from her midfield position.  The defense, led by strong efforts from Katrina, Cook, Olivia, Kaytie O., and "Nine Toes" Kreutzer held Caroline WITHOUT A SHOT ON GOAL FOR THE ENTIRE GAME.  Lauren managed to stave off boredom to collect the shutout win, giving her 2.5 for the season.  Megan Hesse did her best to get the last goal before the slaughter rule came into effect, as did newly christened forwards Katrina and Olivia.

After such an emotional roller coaster, the team earned its first slaughter-rule victory in over two years, and did it in impressive fashion.  In the celebration afterwords, Coach Schafer sported a newly-fashioned silly-string hairdo, and the team was able to get Katrina with the Gatorade bath.  My guess is that Stewart and Olivia lucked out that there was only one cooler available!  The best part of the evening may have been the fact that, despite the downpour, the team had enough energy to play go-to-goal before the lights were turned out.  Whoever let Gregg score needs to work on their keeper skills!  It was, in my opinion, the perfect end to a wonderful night, one filled with love, tears, and joy, which is the way Michelle would have wanted it.

Now on to the District Tournament, and a KG team facing a group of Lady Knights that are on a roll, and are playing their best soccer of the year.