Huff strikes four times as Cape Central girls soccer downs Kelly

The Cape Central girls soccer team learned a thing or two about playing in the wind in a season-opening loss on Monday. It put those lessons to good use on Wednesday, injected a little youthful energy and broke open a close game in the second half to defeat visiting Kelly 6-0 on Wednesday at Cape Central High School.

In just the second game of her varsity career, freshman Mattie Huff scored four goals while Calli House added two more for the Tigers, who outshot the Hawks 17-5 in picking up their first win of the season but led just 1-0 at halftime.

Huff actually struck on the very first shot of the game, hitting a rising shot into the wind that Kelly goalkeeper Tori Duenne couldn't handle, giving the hosts a lead in just the third minute.

"When you're battling the wind and another team, getting that goal really helped a lot," Cape Central coach Dan Martin said.

"We took advantage of that wind [in the second half]. That's, what? A 22-mile-per-hour wind? I thought the first half we were fortunate to keep the ball on the ground and did well in going against the wind. We played [in those conditions] Monday as well, so we talked about that and what needs to happen. I thought in the second half we made the appropriate adjustments to go with the wind."

Kelly's Ana Flores, right, attempts to steal the ball from Cape Central's Madilyn Dunn during the second half.Laura Simon

The Hawks responded well to the early deficit but couldn't take advantage of a stiff wind at their backs.

The dynamic of the game nearly changed in the 12th minute when Kelly midfielder Hailey Noon struck a 35-yard shot that smacked off the crossbar and straight down. Noon and her teammates began to celebrate for a moment before realizing the ball had not crossed the line and was instead cradled in the arms of Central keeper Katie Kinder.

Instead of a tie game, the Hawks were left with their heads in their hands.

"That's just a matter of finishing -- girls crashing and finishing," Kelly coach Lance Powers said. "If we tie that up right there, you put the thought in the other team's mind, 'OK, here they come.' I thought it went in, but apparently it didn't cross, and good job by the keeper, Katie, keeping it out of there."

The visitors continued to send long shots toward goal and continued to apply attacking pressure, but the finish wasn't there.

Kelly's Ana Flores keeps her eye on the ball in the second half of the Hawks matchup against Cape Central, Wednesday, March 23, 2016, at Cape Central High School.Laura Simon

Huff nearly got her second of the night in the final seconds of the first half, as she wove her way past five Kelly defenders before sending a shot on net that was cleared off the line by a defender.

The teams went into the break with four shots apiece and little between them.

That changed in the second half, when Huff avenged her near-miss and more.

In the 53rd minute the Tigers put the ball into the box, where Megan Westcott got off a shot that was saved by keeper Taylor Crank. A scrum ensued to secure the rebound, and it was Huff who found the hole she needed, watching from the ground as the ball rolled across the goal line.

That sparked a flurry, as Cape Central scored four more times in the next 18 minutes to completely take over.

"Once they got the second one, you could tell it kind of got our dobbers down and it took the wind out of us," Powers said. "We were playing short-handed all night and it starts to show in the second half. ... They got that second goal, and after that, we couldn't mount anything going into the wind."

Huff almost got another with a one-time volley off a Tiana Bowman cross in the 56th minute, but the shot sailed just high.

It hardly affected Central's potency, though, as House became an opportunist on a Kelly goal kick that didn't clear the back line, easily slipping the ball into an open net from 20 yards out to make things 3-0.

Cape Central girls soccer hosts Kelly Wednesday, March 23, 2016.Josh Mlot

Huff made it a hat trick just a minute and a half later, outrunning the Hawk defensive line and finishing from inside the 18-yard box.

"Yeah, that was good. That was very nice," Martin said of his freshman's performance. "That's a compliment, I feel, to a lot of the players getting the ball up to her and her doing what she does -- going through and finishing."

Huff was then dragged down just inside the area to set up a successful penalty kick into the right side of goal for her fourth and final goal at 62:20.

House put an exclamation point on the proceedings with a 70th-minute curler into the top of the goal from about 38 yards out to seal the 6-0 score line.

Kelly managed just one shot in the second half.

"There were a lot of things we were doing right, but then there were a lot of things we were doing wrong," Powers said. "They're correctable mistakes. The rough thing is we've got a game tomorrow night, so we've got a very short time to correct those mistakes. But the best thing about sport is we've got another game tomorrow night. I told my girls usually I give them 24 hours to get over a loss, but tonight they've got about 24 seconds."

While Cape Central took advantage of the weather conditions better than Kelly did, it also was able to test the Hawks tactically. With Kelly setting up a back line that put three defenders in front of a center stopper, the Tigers used their width to stretch things horizontally with their 4-4-2 formation. Wide midfielders Natalie Grimm and Madilyn Dunn forced the center backs to push wide, and the striking duo up top found space to create chances in the center channels.

"With our system and our shape, we like to push the ball outside and get some crosses," Martin said. "The first half we did that with Nat Grimm running down the side and winning inlines and playing the ball across. We were very successful with that. ... The wider you can stay with the sweeper-stopper system, that will spread the marking backs outside and open up gaps behind them."

And Huff feasted on those gaps all night.

Kelly (2-2) is right back on the field tonight hosting Liberty (Mountain View).

Central (1-1) will play host to the Noon Optimist Club Tournament today, Friday and Saturday. Jackson, Perryville, Sikeston, Poplar Bluff and Marion (Illinois) are also participating.