Lady Knights rebound at home after PK loss to Waterloo
By Ray Popkess
Triad Soccer hosted two conference games this week against the Waterloo Bulldogs and the Civic Memorial Eagles. Prior to the two contests, the Lady Bulldogs sat atop the Mississippi Valley Conference with a perfect 7-0-0 (2-0 in conference) record, with the Lady Knights trailing them in second with a record of 3-2-2 (2-0) and the Lady Eagles sitting in third with a record of 3-4-0 (1-1).
Lilly Zobrist takes a dribble onto the attacking side late in the second half against Civic Memorial. (Ray Popkess photo).
April 7 vs. Waterloo
Last Tuesday’s match in Troy saw a few scoring opportunities for the Lady Knights come to fruition, but were ultimately called off due to a controversial offsides call and another handball called later in the first half.
After the first 80 minutes of play, keepers on both sides had kept clean sheets. Because this match was between two inter-conference foes, the final score could not end in a 0-0 draw.
One 10-minute overtime period did not decide the game either, so a second overtime period would surely decide the winner…or so both benches thought.
Both keepers did not allow a goal in 100 minutes on the pitch. Makayla Gummersheimer made nine saves in regulation for the Lady Bulldogs, while Payton Hartman stopped seven shots on goal for the Lady Knights.
Waterloo got the best of Hartman in the penalty shootouts, netting four goals to Triad’s two, ending the match before the fifth penalty taker was necessary.
The loss to Waterloo marks the first time the Lady Knights had fallen in a conference matchup since the spring of 2023 when the Lady Bulldogs bested Triad in a 1-0 battle.
April 9 vs. Civic Memorial
Hartman got her revenge against the Eagles later in the week by earning another clean sheet in regulation–no overtime necessary.
Maddie Conreux (#5) leaps into the arms of a teammate after netting her first goal of the season. (Ray Popkess photo)
Maddie Conreux got the scoring started early in the first half when she uncorked a shot 30 yards from the goal line and snuck it past Civic’s keeper with a one-hop. Her first goal of the season proved to be the winning tally for the Knights, but they were not done there.
Conreux later found the head of Karlee Switzer on a corner kick in the 22nd minute of the first half. Switzer used her positioning to find the back of the net, putting the Lady Knights up 2-0.
Not 10 minutes later, Lilly Zobrist was on the receiving end of a rebound inside the six-yard box and buried a screamer over the head of the Eagles’ keeper, making the score 3-0, Triad.
Just before the end of the first half, Triad had another opportunity to score in the aftermath of an unordinary handball from Civic’s keeper.
An Eagle defender attempted to pass the ball back to her net minder in order to create more space for a better chance to attack. Instead, she sent a rocket aimed at her own net, misjudging how much wind would carry the strike. Civic’s keeper had to make a play with her hand to prevent an own goal, but a keeper is not allowed to receive the ball with their hands if it was last played by a teammate. The resulting play was a free kick at the spot of the handball, mere feet from the goal line. Waterloo built a human shield in front of their net, effectively leaving no space for a shot attempt to find the back of the net. They miraculously stopped Triad’s shot attempt from scoring and were somewhat happy with taking a 3-0 deficit into the locker room.
Both keepers yet again kept each team off the scoreboard in the second half, putting the Knights back in the win column and maintaining second place in the MVC.
Triad’s next contest comes against Mascoutah on the road this Thursday, April 16. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:45 p.m.
