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Sikeston girls soccer team grabs key conference, district win over Farmington
SIKESTON -- Sikeston soccer coach Gabe Dement had been reminding his girls for days the importance of Wednesday's game against conference and district foe Farmington. The Lady Bulldogs took that to heart, scoring two early goals and dominated the Lady Knights 3-1.
"I've been talking to them about this game for several days now about how important it is going to be," Dement said. "Being a district and a conference opponent, and for seeding purposes, it is a big game. Last year they beat us in the regular season, but this is a big win for us."
Sikeston wasted no time taking control of the game, using effort and high energy to score two goals in the first seven minutes of the game.
The first goal came from junior Mackenzie Yant after teammate Kylie Noe kept the ball alive. The second goal, in the sixth minute, came when the Farmington goalie misplayed a corner kick from Sikeston's Emma Jones and Larysa McClellon took advantage, putting it in the back right corner of the net.
"Some of our goals were off of broken plays but you have to get the ball down there in the first place," Dement said. "We weren't just booting it down there, we're looking for feet, we're passing, we're moving, we're taking it down the line and getting good crosses in. But for all of our goals I think it stemmed on really keeping the ball alive."
The best goal of the night came in the 54th minute when McClellon took a crossing pass from Yant and headed the ball past the Farmington goalie into the back post to give the Lady Bulldogs a commanding 3-0 lead.
It was McClellon's second goal of the night as the senior has become an important scoring option for Sikeston after missing parts of the last two seasons with injury.
"She has the potential to have nights like that," Dement said. "She's a hustler, she's positive, she's always going to work hard and she's just a force in the box. If the ball is near her in the box the girls are going to have trouble getting through her. She's looked really good so far."
The Lady Bulldogs defense was stellar for most of the night, allowing Farmington very few chances. The Lady Knights took advantage of one of those chances when Riley Turner scored on a breakaway in the 67th minute.
"That was kind of a broken play and we misplayed it," Dement said. "I thought our defense was focused for the most part and played well."
With the win Sikeston improved to 5-4.
"The main thing I was happy about was positive energy and possession," Dement said. "We had a lot of positive energy, we made good passes, we were constantly moving and that's what led to our chances."
Sikeston will be back in action tonight when they host Carbondale, Ill., at 5 p.m. in a varsity only match.
Junior varsity
The Sikeston junior varsity also posted a win Wednesday, defeating Farmington 2-0. Sikeston had goals from Jade Davis and Alisha Shell.