Lady Hounds roll Keokuk in shutout

FORT MADISON - Natalie Randolph had four goals for Fort Madison’s girls soccer team in Monday’s 12-0 win over Keokuk at the Baxter Sports Complex.
Which wasn’t a surprise, because Randolph has scored a lot against the Chiefs in her career.
Randolph has scored four goals in each of her last three matches against Keokuk, and her scoring burst to open this match set an early tone for the Bloodhounds (6-1 overall, 4-1 Southeast Conference).
“I don’t know what it is, but she likes scoring against Keokuk,” Fort Madison coach Carrie Burken said. “What she’s really good at is facilitating passes. So she starts the pass, and then she’s looking for that 1-2 pass, getting that ball back. You have to make a good pass to get the pass back, and that’s what I think she’s good at.”
“I had really good assists from my teammates,” Randolph said. “They got me open looks and got me in the right positions, and the 1-2 passes really helped as well.”
Randolph had three goals in the first 8 ½ minutes to start the Bloodhounds’ run, then her fourth goal with 17:18 to play in the first half gave Fort Madison an 8-0 lead.
Everyone up front for the Bloodhounds got goals. Hadley Wolfe had three goals, Emma Snaadt and Kara Lake each had two goals, and Halle Menke added a goal.
Reilynn Turnbull had three assists. Wolfe and Ellie Hellman each had two, and Randolph, Menke and Olivia Kraus each had one.
“For a Monday game, I liked how we were connecting passes,” Burken said. “I thought we did that well, and that’s why we were so successful. And, we were able to rotate people, and the level didn’t drop. And we finished well.”
“I feel like we were really doing good on the offensive side, and our defense held up well,” Randolph said. “We were connecting our passes really well.”
It was the 11th consecutive win for the Bloodhounds in the series. Fort Madison still hasn’t allowed a goal this season outside of the three penalty kicks after two overtimes in the loss to Burlington on April 11.
Keokuk (1-6, 1-4) had no offense against the Bloodhounds — Fort Madison goalkeeper Taylor Johnson didn’t touch the ball during the match.
“I think she’s fine with that,” Burken said, smiling.
The Bloodhounds hadn’t played since last Monday’s home win over Washington — last Thursday’s match at Mount Pleasant was rained out.
“I liked how we looked, how sharp we looked. I was kind of worried about how we would play,” Burken said. “They did a really good job of focusing, bringing the intensity that they needed.”
Fort Madison will have back-to-back three-match weeks, so Burken didn’t mind this match ended at halftime because of the 10-goal mercy rule.
“Yeah, not going to complain about that,” she said.
“I think it was good for us, because we’re going to need as much rest as we can get,” Randolph said.