Whippet girls soccer hasn’t lost since the third game of the season
By Adam Knoll
Sports Correspondent
Following a fairly easy victory over conference foe Clinton Tuesday night, the Whitewater High School girls soccer team has won 14 consecutive games and is well on its way to claiming a portion of the conference crown.
Based on the previous meeting with the Lady Cougars this season, the Lady Whippets went into the match expecting an easy match and their hunch was right on. Though Clinton put up their best effort, Whitewater was awarded the victory in the 70th minute on the mercy rule, 10-0.
Holly Hough got Whitewater on the scoreboard first in the ninth minute on an assist by Megan Reynolds. Six minutes later Autumn Bultman scored, assisted by Rebekah Schumacher.
The early goals allowed head coach Rene Menager to play the bench and some junior varsity players who had been brought up to the varsity squad for the game.
Amanda Kraavanger scored the final goal of the first half to put the Lady Whippets up 3-0.
Whitewater continued finding gold in the second half with seven goals scored by the following players: Schumacher on an assist by Allison Sedmak; two by Sedmak herself including the game-ending goal; Haylee Stachow; Hough; and Ireland Marinaro assisted by Hough.
After the game Menager said he was pleased with how the younger girls did.
“It was nice to get a glimpse of what next year’s varsity might look like with the many JV and bench players getting some valuable varsity field experience,” Menager stated.
Evansville keeps it close
Last week, the Lady Whippets faced Evansville in a tough match. But thanks to the continued strong play of Sedmak defending the net along with her teammates, Whitewater was able to deliver its eighth shutout of the season.
“The girls matched the Evansville intensity, pace and pressure very well,” Menager after the May 19 game, thanks to outstanding midfield play by Melani Martinez, Megan Reynolds and Schumacher.
The defense held its own as well by way of Brittney Piper and Abby Ramirez while Sedmak recorded 10 saves on the night.
It was a physical, up-tempo game but the Lady Whippets took control of the pace early. Evansville pushed back however, and the two teams spent much of the game fighting it out in the midfield.
Hough, who has broken many ties for Whitewater this season did so again against Evansville in the 38th minute. Dribbling through the Evansville defense she put a left footer into the far corner for the critical 1-0 lead going into half.
The second half featured both teams grinding it out, neither giving any leeway or any scores, leading to a 1-0 win for the Lady Whippets.
Menager pointed out that the win over Evansville was key for Whitewater as it chases the conference crown.
Panthers put up fight
In what was supposed to be a much easier game for Whitewater, the team ran into some turbulence against Palmyra-Eagle May 21.
Despite their record, Palmyra kept the Lady Whippets scoreless in the first half thanks to a strong defensive line across the field. Granted, Whitewater was not playing at the level it has most of the season either.
Menager made some adjustments at halftime that proved to be just the spark the team needed.
The Whitewater midfield was able to rear its head a bit, gain control of the pitch and in the 57th minute, Bultman rifled a shot off the crossbar that rebounded off of the Panther goalkeeper for the first score of the game.
After breaking the ice, the Whippets went into attack mode and in the 69th minute, Alyson Quass beat the keeper in a one-on-one to seal the game, 2-0.
“Although it was not a pretty game for the girls it was an essential win in order to keep our conference championship hopes alive,” Menager said.
The Whippets are now 14-2-2 overall this season, and 21-2-1 in conference. They traveled to Jefferson Thursday for their final conference game of the season. Results from that game will appear in next week’s issue.
Editor Heather Ruenz contributed to this story.
