Lady Hounds fall to Nikes in season-opener

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BY JOHN BOHNENKAMP
PCC SPORTS

FORT MADISON - It took about five minutes for Fort Madison’s girls soccer team to settle in during their first match of the season.
It took 29 minutes, though, for Notre Dame-West Burlington to score on the Bloodhounds.
There were positive things for Fort Madison to take away from the 3-0 loss to the Nikes at the Baxter Sports Complex.
“I would say, for our first game, it was maybe even better than I expected,” said coach Carrie Burken, who was replacing several key players from last season’s team. “As far as how we played, the first five minutes were chaotic, disorganized. But after that, they really started figuring things out, organizing with each other. I liked what we did.”
The Nikes got all three of their goals in the second half.
It was the second one, a shot by Aviana West that sneaked into the net with 14:45 to play, that hurt the most.
“That second goal was really tough on us,” Burken said. “Coming back from two goals is a lot more difficult than one goal. That second one really put a lot of pressure on us.”
The Bloodhounds, who lost plenty of scoring from last season, had chances to score in both halves.
The best first-half chance came with 1:30 left, when Teagan Snaadt’s shot from deep on the right side crossed in front of the net and went wide.
Natalie Randolph had two close shots in the second half, the first when the match was scoreless and the second coming just three minutes after the second ND-WB goal. But Randolph couldn’t get a clear look at the net on either shot.
Anna Sobczak then had her shot with 9:30 remaining pass by the net on the right side.
“We had good opportunities,” Burken said. “I think we figured out in the second half where the weaknesses were in their defense and we sent Teagan and Natalie to those spots. The next step will be shooting sooner or passing sooner. But those are game situations, and the more we play this season, the more we’ll convert on those.
“Finishing is always the last thing to come, and I think we’ll get better at that. Game situations are different than practice.”
Burken tried players in different positions, something she expected to do a lot early in the season.
“You could see a lot of changes in the first half,” she said. “The second half, I think we got a lot more comfortable.”

bloodhounds, fort madison, lee county, Pen City Current, Soccer, sports, varsity

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