Sikeston gives seniors a night to remember with a 2-1 win over North County

SIKESTON — The Sikeston girls’ soccer team celebrated its senior players in style, securing a thrilling win over North County on a special night filled with emotions and memories.

The Lady Bulldogs (3-10) won 2-1 over the Lady Raiders (1-9) at the Sports Complex on Wednesday, April 19.

“Our seniors stepped up tonight to make some big plays in big situations to either create chances or prevent North County from getting too many,” said Sikeston coach Gabe Dement. “Maggie Drury, Emilie Massey, and Bella Guzman have been with us for three years due to COVID and have grown so much as people and leaders and we’re so excited to see how bright their futures will be. Liliana Knoeppel decided to play her senior season after a state qualifying wrestling campaign and has been brought a bunch of positivity and a great attitude. She’s our backup keeper and is always ready to be called on.”

Sikeston's Suzie Gilmore (10) tracks down the ball�during a 2-1 win over North County at the Sports Complex on Wednesday, April 19.�Dennis Marshall/Standard-Democrat

The game was closely contested, with both teams displaying their skills and competitive spirit, but it was Sikeston that came out on top, much to the delight of the seniors and the enthusiastic crowd.

The Lady Bulldogs scored the first goal of the game when Natalie Wright was able to find a loose ball in the box after a broken play and shot it into the far post for a goal with 36:30 left in the first half.

Landry Eason increased the lead to 2-0 with 14:07 left in the first half after she sent a swerving ball in, that bent from right to the left side netting off an assist from Cate Schrumpf.

“I liked how we made some nice passing strings where we made three, four, or five passes in a row to move the ball up the field and maintain possession,” Dement said. “Sophomores Natalie Wright and Landry Eason stepped up huge tonight to score our two goals in the first half.”

It was Eason’s first varsity goal of her high school soccer career, while goalkeeper Hailey Pressley finished with six saves.

In the second half go the game, North County found a way to break through and score a goal to narrow the lead to 2-1. The goal gave the Lady Raiders some energy and momentum, as they fought hard to equal the score.

However, the Lady Bulldogs were not ready to give up their lead and responded with a series of critical plays to maintain their advantage.

Sikeston tighten its defense, moved the ball efficiently, and focused on possession, denying North County any more good scoring opportunities.

“Overall, I thought we played well enough to earn the win,” Dement said. “We are teaching several new girls positions that are very new to them and also some girls that are completely new to soccer and those new girls were certainly key in the victory.”

Sikeston will compete in the Marshfield Invitational this weekend. The team will face Fair Grove (1-12) on Friday, April 21, and Stover with Cole Camp (3-5) and Marshfield (9-4) on Saturday, April 22.