Lady Hounds wrap perfect week with win over Mepo

MEDIAPOLIS — Hadley Wolfe and Kara Lake have been playing soccer together for a while.
“We’ve been playing together since we were really young, probably third grade,” Lake said.
“Yep, the chemistry is there,” Wolfe said, and the two started laughing.
The chemistry is there for them, and the rest of the Fort Madison girls soccer team, which finished an undefeated week with a 4-0 win over Mediapolis on Friday night.
Wolfe had three goals and Lake had the other for the 15th-ranked (Class 2A) Bloodhounds, who tied Southeast Conference leader Burlington on Tuesday before winning 11-0 at Mount Pleasant on Thursday and then following that up with this win. Fort Madison (9-1-1) extended its undefeated streak to seven matches.
“We had a good game against Burlington on Monday, and then kept it clean against Mount Pleasant yesterday, we were a lot more clinical,” Fort Madison coach Carrie Burken said. “And then today, for a win, on the road, on turf, third game of the week, I can’t complain about that.”
“It keeps us pushing through the year and keeps us in a rhythm to keep going and hopefully push through into the postseason,” Wolfe said.
The Bloodhounds have been successful with their connections on the field, and this win was another sign of how well this team works together.
“I think as far as turf goes, it was one of our better passing games,” Burken said. “It didn't take us as long to figure out turf this time as it usually does. So I'm very happy with that. I feel like our passing in the last few games in the last week or two has been really good.”
“I think we connected really well through the middle today, and we just kept possession, which really helped us on the turf,” Wolfe said. “Adjusting from the grass to the turf is a lot, so to keep possession the way we did tonight was a big thing.”

“As we continued to play on the turf tonight, it did get a little easier, figuring how much power we needed and when to kick,” Lake said.
One of the best connections of the match came in the second half, when Reilynn Turnbull hit a perfect pass to Wolfe, who sprinted ahead of Mediapolis’ defense and scored to give the Bloodhounds a 3-0 lead. 
Wolfe now has 30 goals on the season, the most among Class 2A players and fifth best overall.
She got Fort Madison started with a goal with 27:36 left in the first half. Lake scored with 19:06 to play, and the Bloodhounds took a 2-0 lead into halftime.
Lake, a junior, now has 11 goals on the season, second in scoring on the team behind Wolfe.
“It’s been good passes from everyone else,” Lake said. “Hadley's really good at seeing the ball and other people on our team. So just having those through balls, having the opportunities to score, it’s because of my teammates on the outside. I couldn’t do it without them.”
Wolfe’s final goal of the night came at 15:42 left in the second half, then Fort Madison’s defense maintained the shutout.
“I think maybe they had one shot (on goal) in the second half,” Burken said. “I thought we played really well defensively all night.”
Halle Menke had two assists for the Bloodhounds. Turnbull and Molly Schulte each had one.
Fort Madison plays host to Fairfield in Monday’s Senior Night match at the Baxter Sports Complex.