Lady Hounds advance through quarterfinals

Practice pays off

We did a lot of small-field scrimmage, which you have to work on moving into space and connecting passes.. So I was really, really happy with our possession of the ball.”

Carrie Burken, FMHS girls coach

FORT MADISON - Fort Madison’s girls soccer team had plenty of time to prepare for the postseason, and the Bloodhounds took full advantage of it.
Freshman Hadley Wolfe scored four goals as Fort Madison took a 6-0 win over Keokuk in Friday’s Class 2A Region 5 quarterfinal at the Baxter Sports Complex.
Fort Madison (10-5) plays at Burlington in Tuesday’s 7 p.m. semifinal.
The Bloodhounds hadn’t played since a 1-0 loss to Davenport North on May 11. They had lost their last three matches during a stretch in which they played five matches in 10 days.
The time off, coach Carrie Burken said, paid off as the Bloodhounds looked more like the team that had won nine of 10 matches before the losing streak.
“Sometimes it’s challenging to have so many practices (between) your last game of the regular season and the first game of the postseason,” Burken said. “But I think it gave us some time to have fun, relax, and focus on some key things. And I think we saw a lot of that in the game.”
“I think we played really well,” said Wolfe, who scored three of her goals in the second half as the Bloodhounds dominated with their possession of the ball throughout the match. “We were connecting passes, we were looking for each other. I think we just played great overall.”
Burken had talked about her team’s lack of finishing on offense, and that was one of the key things the Bloodhounds worked on in preparation for this match.
“We did a lot of small-field scrimmage, which you have to work on moving into space and connecting passes,” Burken said. “So I was really, really happy with our possession of the ball. I think we dominated the game.
“Our forwards really looked to finish, and finish well. I think last time was just the lack of finishing, and that was something we had been focusing on. I was really excited with how we played today.”
Fort Madison defeated Keokuk twice during the regular season, but only won the second match 1-0.
“I think we just had a better game,” Wolfe said. “Today we were really focused and we really wanted to beat them. We put our minds to it and did it.”
Wolfe wasn’t sure what kind of game she was going to have, but she was attacking early, missing a shot just over the net less than two minutes into the match.
Teagan Snaadt got Fort Madison’s first goal with 33:07 left in the first half. Wolfe then scored from the left side 30 seconds later, then Halle Menke’s deep goal with 19:04 left gave the Bloodhounds a 3-0 lead at halftime.
Wolfe then took over in the second half, with three breakaway goals against Keokuk’s defense.
“I started running after (passes) and they started to go in,” Wolfe said.
Burken called Wolfe a “scoring machine.” Wolfe and Snaadt each have 19 goals to lead the team.
“I think she is what would call a hungry player,” Burken said. “She’s always looking to get better, she’s always looking to compete harder to win. She wants to do whatever it takes to win. She’s very coachable.
“I think it’s just she wants that goal. She’s hungry for it. Teagan is the same way. And having those two up top, they want to go get it.”
Now the Bloodhounds get a third shot at Burlington, which beat Fort Madison 2-0 on May 4 to clinch the Southeast Conference title. The Grayhounds also won 1-0 in overtime against the Bloodhounds on April 17.
“It’s definitely a motivator. We definitely want to beat them,” Burken said. “Burlington is a good, quality team. But when you know you can compete with them, you definitely want another shot at them to prove you’re at least on the same level with them."
Taylor Johnson had two saves in shutting out the Chiefs.