Lady Hounds shut out at Burlington

BURLINGTON — The first goal hurt.
The second goal was even more wounding.
More would follow, and Fort Madison’s girls soccer team suffered its first loss of the season, a 5-0 defeat to Burlington at Bracewell Stadium on Thursday.
It was the first loss of the season for the Bloodhounds (3-1, 2-1 Southeast Conference), who have plenty to learn from after the defeat, coach Carrie Burken said.
“It shows us where the bar is, if we want to compete in the conference,” Burken said. “It shows us where we need to get better at.”
The Bloodhounds and Burlington (3-1, 2-0) have become quite the rivals in conference play over the last few years, battling at the top of the standings. The Grayhounds took a step forward in the standings by pecking away at the Fort Madison defense until finding openings late in the first half.
Burlington had one early goal waved off because of an offsides call, then got on the scoreboard with 13:57 left in the first half when Lily Newell’s pass into the box got cleanly to Isabella Ziegler, who scored past Fort Madison goalkeeper Ellie Hellman.
Morrigan Elliot scored off a Newell assist with 9:05 to play, and the Grayhounds took the 2-0 lead into halftime.

It was the first time all season the Bloodhounds had trailed.
“I think we actually played pretty well the first 15-20 minutes, until we gave up the goal,” Burken said. “Once we gave up the goal, I think it mentally challenged us, knowing we were going to have to get two goals. And then I think when we went down two goals, we kind of checked out, and that’s something we’re going to have to work on.
“We have to be mentally more tough, we have to be more willing to push ourselves to be uncomfortable, to do what we need to do to be successful instead of hanging our heads.”
The Grayhounds extended the lead 3 ½ minutes into the second half. Brooklyn Sparrow intercepted Hellman’s throw-in after a save and knocked the ball over the goalkeeper for a 3-0 margin.
Alyssa Burchett’s goal with 14:26 remaining and Sparrow’s second goal with 2:14 left provided the final margin.
Fort Madison had a couple of good chances to score. Reilynn Turnbull was able to get through the Burlington defense late in the first half, but her shot missed to the left. Kara Lake also got through the middle of the Grayhounds in the second half, but missed her shot and couldn’t connect off the rebound off Burlington goalkeeper Sophia Young.
Hellman had 14 saves.
“There is a learning curve for our defense,” Burken said. “We have a young defensive lineup — there’s inexperience, but I think they did some things well today. It’s just a few mistakes, a few little details here or there, that made it that final score line.”
Fort Madison plays host to Mount Pleasant on Monday.