May 14 – It was the second day of the District 8 Class 2 girls soccer quarterfinals at Cameron High School, as the first contest was between the seventh-seeded and host Cameron Dragons and the two-seeded Bishop LeBlond Golden Eagles.
The action was very early, as the contest only needed three minutes for the scoreboard to light up with the first points of the night. The ball was passed to the Dragons’ Bailey Robinson, bouncing off her foot, taking it further down the field for a one-on-one opportunity against Golden Eagles goalkeeper Maddie Sego.
Robinson quickly centered the shot, but shot left and deceived Sego for the 1-0 lead. It didn’t take long for LeBlond to respond, in fact just 16 minutes. Allie Welter passed in front to Kinsley Hazelwood, who then passed to Kendall Cathcart.
Cathcart tracked the ball, using the side of his foot near the goal to pass under Cameron’s keeper’s arm, which led to a 1-1 draw. With 14 minutes remaining in the first, Welter broke through the Dragons’ defense, but passed to Cathcart on the left side who took advantage of the start to kick the ball across the field, and Hazelwood used his head to put the ball into the back of the net.
That goal pushed the score to 2-1, and the score remained when the horn signaled half-time. The second half wasn’t as fun in terms of scoring, as it was 17 minutes before the ball hit the back of the net for the first goal of the second half.
On the corner kick, Cameron’s Alexis Robinson didn’t need to set anyone up as her shot went into the net and tied the game at 2-2 with less than 23 minutes remaining for a spot in the district semifinals.
With 13 minutes left in the match, rain began to fall, but it did not affect LeBlond’s game. The ball ricocheted off the goalkeeper’s foot and fell to Cathcart, who placed it on the left side for the decisive goal.
LeBlond advances to the District 8 Class 2 semifinals at 6:30 p.m. Thursday against Benton at Cameron High School.
Calvin Silvers can be reached at calvin.silvers@newspressnow.com.
