The Wayland girls’ varsity so
ccer team recorded a milestone victory Monday night and in the process made a statement about being very competitive in the O-K Gold Conference.
The Lady Wildcats came up with their first-ever road victory, 2-1 over perennial powerhouse South Christian, lifting their overall season record to 9-5-1.
The game started out with the host Sailors dominating possession and missing a few early chances to take the lead. The Wildcats fought back though and went ahead on a goal from Lynnsey Hooker on a Brinley Nieuwenhuis corner kick.
“After taking the lead, the girls settled down and the game became much more evenly matched with both teams having chances to score before the halftime whistle,” coach Ben Sleeman said.
In the second half, it was the Wildcats who took advantage and doubled their lead on another corner kick goal. This time it was Madelyn Gray who found herself in an open space in front of the keeper and finished off Brinley Nieuwenhuis’ second assist of the night.
The teams both batted on late into the game, the Sailors pouring everything they had into the offensive side of the ball and the Wildcats defending valiantly until an unfortunate handball in the box rewarded the home side with a penalty kick.
“After conceding the penalty with just under 10 minutes to go,” Sleeman commented, “the Wildcats played excellent defense and controlled the clock masterfully down the stretch to secure a huge conference road victory.”
Goalie Hannah Anderson stopped 10 of 11 South Christian shots.
The win also brings Wayland’s O-K Gold record to 4-2, sitting in second place in the conference with four games left to play. The girls will be back in action at home Wednesday in another conference matchup against Ottawa Hills.
