Lady Hounds improve to 6-1

FORT MADISON - Hadley Wolfe scored four goals in Fort Madison’s 8-0 win over Keokuk on Thursday night, then went about stopping shots in the junior varsity game.
The senior works as the Bloodhounds’ goalkeeper during JV matches — “I like doing it,” Wolfe said. “It’s something different” — and it shows just how valuable she is to the team, coach Carrie Burken said.
“She’s a do-it-all person,” Burken said. “She’s a jack-of-all-trades, really.”
Wolfe, who scored twice in the first half and twice in the second half in this win, now has 19 goals, which ranks her second among all players in the state in Class 2A and in the top 10 in the state overall.
“It’s just about connecting passes, getting all the through balls, and just creating opportunities,” Wolfe said.
Burken said it’s much deeper.
“She has really good vision and just the technical skills to be able to execute what she's envisioning,” Burken said. “She can read the defense, she sees the passes. It's the exact same thing in basketball. It's the same thing that makes her such a good point guard.”
The Bloodhounds (6-1 overall, 4-1 Southeast Conference) have won three consecutive matches since losing to 17th-ranked (Class 2A) Burlington on April 16. Fort Madison has outscored their opponents 23-0 in the streak to stay one game behind the Grayhounds heading into Monday’s match at the Baxter Sports Complex.

“I've really been emphasizing possession and connecting passes a lot,” Burken said. “That's really what we've been working on in practice the whole time. Doing things like, ‘Hey, how long can we hold on to the ball?’ Or, you have to do five passes before you can try to score,’ things like that. It's been our focus. But I don't think we know how much we've improved until we actually play Burlington again.”
“We’re just eager to get better every day,” Wolfe said.
Fort Madison opened the scoring 69 seconds into the match when Reilynn Turnbull dropped in a shot over the head of Keokuk goalkeeper Reilina Wong. Wolfe scored 8 ½ minutes later for a 2-0 lead, then added her second goal with 22:08 to play, then Kara Lake closed the first-half scoring with a goal with 11:44 to play.
Wolfe scored twice in the first 13 minutes of the second half, sandwiched around a goal from Emma Snaadt with 34 ½ minutes left. Lake closed the scoring with a goal with 13:15 left.
Lake, a junior, has been an important part of the Bloodhounds’ offense this season, with five goals and five assists.
“She’s been really good,” Burken said. “She and Hadley have a nice little connection up top. I think they're starting to understand where each other is on the field a bit more, how to connect with each other. And I think that's what's leading to more goals for both of them.”
Turnbull had two assists for the Bloodhounds. Wolfe, Lake, Halle Menke and Faith Ward each had one.
Fort Madison plays host to Macomb in a 4:30 p.m. match on Friday at the Baxter Sports Complex.