SHS falls to Saxony Lutheran 3-1

SIKESTON -- For 73 minutes, the Sikeston Lady Bulldogs were neck-and-neck with Saxony Lutheran.

The score was tied 1-1 and each team looked to be digging in for the long haul if overtime was needed.

Saxony's Nicole Hemmann changed all that.

Two late goals by Hemmann put a damper on Sikeston's hopes of winning their first game of the season as Saxony left the Sikeston Sports Complex 3-1 winners.

"Both sides had chances," Sikeston head coach Doyle Noe said. "Unfortunately, it didn't go our way. It's frustrating when you play well and it slips away from you."

With six and a half minutes left showing in the second half, Hemmann sent a shot towards Sikeston goalie Annie Ramey that smacked off the cross bar just out of Ramey's reach.

The ball ricocheted straight down directly behind Ramey leaving players and coaches wondering if the ball crossed the goal line. The official signaled the goal good giving Saxony a 2-1 advantage.

"Both sides were going at each other and a shot like that goes straight down, it was definitely a judgement call," Noe said. "That's a tough call in that situation. Bottom line is, how do we respond to that?"

Noe got his answer nearly three minutes later, when Hemmann caught a pass directly in front of Sikeston's goal and knocked in her second goal of the night.

Up 3-1 with just three minutes left, Saxony (3-0) had the game well in hand as Sikeston scrambled for a late goal towards the end.

"We respond by giving up another goal," said Noe. "There's really no excuse for anything. Adversity happens and you have to fight through it. Good teams do and we didn't. That definitely put the nail in the coffin."

"From my angle, I couldn't tell," Saxony head coach Ryan Schweain said about Hemmann's first goal. "I just saw the official signal goal so I started clapping. That might have took a little bit of wind out of their sails."

Up until the last few minutes, both teams had their share of chances to put goals in. Neither team held a strict advantage as far as possession as the Lady Bulldogs and Saxony were about even throughout the contest.

"The game was evenly matched throughout the majority of it," Schweain said. "In the second half, we were just working on our touch and our team movement. So far this season, we haven't had great touch so we really need to improve in that area."

Abby Hadler scored Saxony's first goal in the first half, but Sikeston's Madison Chaney knotted the game in the 36th minute.

Chaney blasted a kick off the right goal post that rocketed away from Saxony keeper Abby Goeckeler and spun inside the goal to tie the game 1-1.

"That was a great hustle play," Noe said about Chaney's goal. "The ball got crossed in the middle and she hustled to get to where she needed to be. It was a big goal."

Although she gave up three goals, Ramey was praised for her efforts at goal.

"She's definitely improving," Noe said about Ramey, who is in her first year of soccer. "This was only her fourth game ever and she's doing well."

Chaney scored Sikeston's first goal of the year in the first half. The Lady Bulldogs, who dropped to 0-4 on the year, have struggled finding a consistent attack up top so far.

"That kind of gets the monkey off our backs a bit," Noe said about scoring their first goal. "We've had some issues with our offense. It's just possessing the ball. We have to control the ball and build up an attack instead of counter-attacking."

Sikeston will travel to Anna, Ill., on Thursday for their next match.