May 27, 2015
Sikeston cruises to first-ever quarterfinals after 3-0 win over Hillsboro
Not content with winning the first district title in school history, the Sikeston Lady Bulldogs continued attacking its record book Tuesday in the program's first sectional game ever.
By Brent Shipman - Standard Democrat
sports@standard-democrat.com
SIKESTON -- Not content with winning the first district title in school history, the Sikeston Lady Bulldogs continued attacking its record book Tuesday in the program's first sectional game ever.
Downing visiting Hillsboro 3-0, Sikeston not only punched its ticket to the Class 3 quarterfinals, but set new marks for wins and shutouts in a season.
"It's another historical win," Sikeston head coach Gabe Dement said. "The district championship win was historical as well and now you have a team in the final eight of Class 3 soccer. When we're 8-10 (earlier this year) I'm thinking where are we going. Are we going to stay here and be mediocre or are we go up? Sure enough we've gone up from there."
Going 'up' as Dement mentioned, the Lady Bulldogs have reeled off eight-straight wins for a now program-best 16-10 record. The defense and keeper Madeline Witt's ability to hold Hillsboro scoreless gives them 10 shutouts, another all-time mark.
They'll get the chance to improve on both those numbers Saturday when they host Webster Groves at 2 p.m. at the Sikeston Sports Complex.
Unlike in their district championship run the Lady Bulldogs were able to strike early and never let up that advantage.
Junior Torrie Helms added to her already record-setting scoring total just four minutes into the contest thanks to a pass from teammate Kayla Curry.
Curry, a sophomore, was handling the ball midfield just outside the box before sending a pass to Helms, hitting her in stride. Helms kicked the ball to the left side of the box, where she got in front of her defender and sent a shot untouched into the right side of the net to put her team up 1-0 with 36:14 still left in the half.
"It calms our nerves a lot if we're the first one to score," Helms said. "She came out so I just touched it and hit it."
The early strike backed up the scouting Sikeston had done on the Lady Hawks. Having not seen Hillsboro (14-14) in the regular season, Dement consulted with former district rival, Perryville head coach, Jerry Fulton. Perryville played Hillsboro late in the season and had success, beating them 4-2.
"(Fulton) gave me a little bit of information about them," Dement said. "Honestly it was diagonal through balls while our players are running on to. That's how Curry set up Helms' first goal. You don't play the ball to their feet, you play it behind their defenders while your forward is going. Torrie met that ball perfectly in stride. It was right at her feet by Curry and then she finished. If we were going to break down their defense that's how I knew we'd do it because they play a flat-back."
With its defense holding Hillsboro to one shot in the first half, Sikeston's lead never felt in question before the break. The Lady Bulldogs were able to add to it with 16:51 left before halftime when junior team captain Claudea Kuykendall stole the ball in Lady Hawk territory.
After only a few steps the junior sent a bullet on net from the top right corner of the box and found the left corner of the net chest high to double her team's lead, 2-0.
It was Kuykendall's fifth goal this season to go with four assists. Following some frustrating near misses this season, scoring in that situation surprised Kuykendall herself.
"I wasn't expecting it," Kuykendall said. "I usually get up close, I freak and miss it. I didn't even see it go in, but it did."
Sikeston went on to out-shoot Hillsboro 12-1 in the first half and though the Lady Hawks created more opportunities in the final 40 minutes, the outcome never felt in question.
Hillsboro attempted six shots to the Lady Bulldogs' 14 in the second half to get outshot a combined 26-6 on the game.
Helms iced Sikeston's win with just over six minutes into the second half after faking out a defender in the box and preparing to shoot between a pair of Lady Hawks. Helms was knocked down before she could get the shot off, but collected a tripping call on the play and was awarded a free kick.
Helm's shot found the low right corner of the net untouched by the keeper to put her team up by the 3-0 final with 33:45 to play.
Already with the school's single-season scoring record for goals entering the contest, Helms now has 35 after her two scores on Tuesday and also leads the team with 12 assists.
"She didn't look as fast, but she uses her body well and creates a little bit of space," Lady Hawk's head coach Chris Schacht said of defending Helms. "She showed it the first minute and we saw it on film too that she'll shoot from 40 yards out just to see if the keeper is awake or not."
Hillsboro found its best offensive chance of the evening when Sikeston was called for tripping in the box with 24:13 to play. With a chance to close back within two goals, however, the Lady Hawks saw their unguarded shot sail high and above the top crossbar to keep the shutout intact.
"The second half I thought we played much better, but we didn't play the game we could play today," Schacht said. "I think it was due to the fact that Sikeston was on. We came down and watched them in their district championship. They didn't look as fast, but they're big and strong and we knew that. I think they didn't look fast because they played back-to-back nights so I think they were gassed a little bit and didn't show everything they had."
Sikeston's road doesn't get any easier in hosting Webster Groves on Saturday. Webster Groves (26-2) defeated the defending Class 2 state champions Visitation Academy 1-0 Tuesday in its sectional matchup.
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