Lady Hounds rebound from loss with big win

Adalyn Kruse (12) tries to get the ball out of Washington territory in the 2nd half Thursday night at Baxter Sports Complex. The Lady Hounds defense held the Demons to just one goal in a 9-1 Fort Madison win.

Photo by Chuck Vandenberg/PCC

REBOUND

Burlington was a tough loss for us, so I feel like everyone came out tonight having the mentality that we want to beat this team, and we’re going to beat them bad.”

Teagan Snaadt, HTC senior forward

FORT MADISON - It didn’t take long for Fort Madison’s girls soccer team to respond from its first loss in the season.
The Bloodhounds scored seven goals in the first half on the way to a 9-1 win over Washington at the Baxter Sports Complex.
Fort Madison (9-1-2 overall, 6-1-1 Southeast Conference) lost 3-0 at Burlington on Monday night in a match for the conference lead, but the Bloodhounds’ quick start in this one was a good beginning to the final stretch before the postseason.
“It feels really good to come out here and play like this after losing to Burlington,” said senior Teagan Snaadt, who had five of the Bloodhounds’ goals. “Burlington was a tough loss for us, so I feel like everyone came out tonight having the mentality that we want to beat this team, and we’re going to beat them bad.”
“I feel like it's a good win for us,” said coach Carrie Burken. “I think it's confidence, but it's also just knowing what we're capable of. So I think having a good, solid win is really important.”
Halle Menke got Fort Madison going with a goal less than four minutes into the match. Snaadt scored three minutes later, and the goals just kept coming.
“Once you see that first goal go in, you know that confidence level goes up,” Snaadt said. “Seeing Halle get that first goal gave me a lot of confidence.”
It wasn’t just the quantity of the goals, it was the quality. Reilynn Turnbull’s goal that put Fort Madison up 3-0 was perfectly placed, sailing over the head of Washington goalkeeper Katherine Flannery. Then Menke blasted a deep free kick that also was placed in the right spot where Flannery couldn’t get it.
“Hitting a big shot like that is a momentum changer,” Snaadt said of Menke’s goal.
“Whenever we get off to a good start, it just builds a lot of confidence for our team, and then everyone feeds off that confidence,” Burken said. “We’re a momentum team, and I think you can see that.”
Hadley Wolfe scored on a shot that ricocheted off the right post for a 5-0 lead, then Snaadt added two goals within 37 seconds of each other to close the half.
Washington got its only goal with 5:05 left in the match when a shot bounced off the right post past goalkeeper Ellie Hellman and was knocked into the net by Maya Murphy.
Snaadt closed the match with a goal with 3:45 to play and another with 1:27 to go.
“I think the biggest difference in the second half was possession, and we just didn't connect passes as much,” Burken said. “And so because of that, they had more possessions, and then that gave them more opportunities. So I don't know if they made an adjustment or not, but to me, that's on us for not working hard enough to get on the ball, to get open for passes and connect passes.”
Wolfe, Menke and Kara Lake each had two assists for the Bloodhounds. Faith Ward also had an assist.
It’s the second of three consecutive three-match weeks to close the regular season for the Bloodhounds — they play at Washington on Friday.
“It’s important to keep the momentum going, to keep building on our performances,” Burken said. “We’re also getting experience for our younger players. Just for me, I'm already thinking about the fact that we're not going to have some of these players next year, and so getting some of those younger players more and more experience is also going to be important.”