Saint Thomas Aquinas Girls Soccer 2024

 Game 13: (12-1-0) 30 April vs. Bishop Miege at Miege at 4:30 (3-1) 2024 Stats EKL Standings We have returned from Iowa with a still-ailing Miller but a give-it-another-go Rylance for today's odd start time against the Stags. Holton stayed up top and Brooklyn stayed at center midfield to start this one. After getting the wind in the first half, we moved Hansen up to the second line to play a 3-4-3, and that worked pretty well for the most part. We got up 3-0 after 23 minutes, looking like the game might be over by half. Miege did put one on the board with about 9 to go in the first half. The second half played out 0-0 until lightning ended the match with 8:45 still to play. All of our goals did come off some pretty darn good shots. But our attack was not much more than firing some long shots, as we only earned three corners from the match—so we did not attack the baseline enough, and we did not play enough through Anisten. The match, however, was never in jeopardy. We are back in a...

Game 12: (11-1-0) 27 April vs. Waunakee (Wisconsin)  in Bettendorf, Iowa  (3-0) 2024 Stats EKL Standings The girls finished off Iowa with a strong team performance, putting up a clean sheet (Payne did save her 3rd PK of the season.) in a 3-0 win. And the girls produced 14 corner kicks, seven each half. So they did attack the baseline with some fervor. We scored three in that second half after a 0-0 first half. This year the girls will return from Iowa with a perfect 2-0 record, improving on the season to 11-1. We will be back in action Tuesday at Miege STATS: First Half: Saints: Shots: 4 (1) Corners: 7 (O'Keefe 2, DiCola 2, Marn 2, Miller) Waunakee: Shots: 2 Corners: 0 Second Half: Saints: Shots: 6 (3) Corners: 7 (Marn 2, O'Keefe, Cabantac, DiCola, Miller, Holton) 13:28 Cabantac  (she drives the corner in) 9:38  Holton (O'Keefe attacks the baseline before lifting her cross for an Anisten one-touch that the keeper gets a hand on deflecting it up for the head-in) 3:45...

Game 11: (10-1-0) 26 April vs. Ankeny (Iowa)  in Bettendorf, Iowa  (2-1, shootout) 2024 Stats EKL Standings We had the best in Iowa against the best in Kansas, and despite a rather dominant performance from the Saints, this one went to PK's where the Saints were PERFECT! With Andi back in the Med Tent for the weekend, the lineup took on some interesting twists as Marn went to the 10, Cabantac back to the 8, and Holton back up top for the first time this year. And DiCarlo was back at the "6." The Saints got their lone goal with an attack of the baseline by Brooklyn where she lofted her long cross for a mid-post header by Maggie. Just a great  goal. The match became a bit scary as Ankeny scored with only 40 seconds left getting them to a  shootout, but we have Maggie and we did not miss. Coaches thought Brooklyn gave the team a big lift at the 10 without Rylance, allowing Anisten to drop to the 8 and DiCarolo to woman the "6." We won the midfield. STATS: First Hal...

Game 10: (9-1-0) 23 April vs. BV Northwest at 7:00 (0-1) 2024 Stats EKL Standings We lost only two matches last season, our league match against BV Northwest and a game in Iowa. This will be the week we will need to avenge both if we want to keep this perfect season going.  And tonight was quite a match, but we fell 1-0 to BV Northwest for our first loss of the season. The coaching staff needs to bottle that halftime speech for we were unbelievable second half. Second half we had 13 shots with 9 on goal with a couple of corners and a PK. Northwest did not get a shot off in the second half. But Karani was unbelievable; she stopped almost a sure goal by pushing us to the ground, and then she saved the PK. She had 13 saves in the match, holding us to zero. Unfortunately, we came out a bit flat in the first half. Northwest got off seven shots in the first half with three of them on frame, one a nice shot by LaBounty but we created it for her on a missed back pass, but it was a nic...

Game 9 (9-0-0) 11 April vs. Kapaun Mt. Carmel at Saint Thomas Aquinas (2-0)  2024 Stats EKL Standings We welcomed our good friends from Wichita to a Friday night match-up. The girls led 2-0 after nine minutes, and most of us wondered if we would actually play all 80 minutes. We did keep up the pounding, but we could not get another one into the back of the net. The Kapaun goalie did play quite well. We took 30 shots for the match, putting 19 on goal. We created 9 corners. So we did generate plenty of offense, while holding the Crusaders to only 4 shots for the match, with only 2 of them on goal. Reese Holmstrom made her 2024 varsity debut tonight, coming back from a couple of lengthy injuries, and she played very well. We move to 9-0-0 on the season, giving up only three goals all year. This number-five team in the nation will be back in action for PinkOut this Tuesday against a hot Blue Valley Northwest team. It was a match where the whole line-up played a lot and very well. Our t...

Game 8 (8-0-0) 11 April vs. BV Southwest at Saint Thomas Aquinas (2-1)  2024 Stats EKL Standings We finished the week off with probably the toughest opponent for us there is in Kansas, Blue Valley Southwest. And yes they came in undefeated, but more importantly, with a big-time offense as they had scored 43 goals in seven matches, over six goals a game. The game lived up to its billing too, and now, favors to repeat itself as the 5A State Final—stuff happens, but these two look like the best two teams in the state. The game stats would suggest that BV Southwest outplayed us in this match, for they outcornered us 5-1, and had 15 shots on goal to our 6, but I thought we had the shots with the highest probability of scoring on them, as we just created shots where our top scorers were one-on-one with the keeper. Both of Cabantac's goals came off passes that put her in great positions to fire, and she did both times. And Marn honestly had two attacks that I would bet she would score on ...

Game 7: (7-0-0) 9 April vs. Blue Valley West @ AntDAC (1-0) 2024 Stats EKL Standings Here we go again, playing undefeated and unscored upon. The Saints got another tough test, but Andi was back in the starting line-up. Andi's return, despite her not yet back to 100%, made a difference. The Saints won this match in the midfield. Yes, Hansen played like the best defender around again, but our ability to transition out of the back into our attack changed possession and the match. What a night it was. West's entire program came in, all, undefeated, and the Saints put three losses on them, with their varsity giving up its first goal of the year. They came close once, but Maggie kept her sheet clean on a difficult high shot. Anisten was phenomenal, playing her best defensive game all year, yet continuing her offensive dominance of the center midfield. She scored the game-winning goal on the first-half PK, and she also came close several times and came close to assisting a couple of t...

Game 6: (6-0-0) 4 April vs. Bishop Carroll at 6:30 at Saint Thomas Aquinas (3-2, OT)  2024 Stats EKL Standings In the replay of last year's State Championship match, the Saints came away with a gritty, overtime win. To get to OT, Maggie Payne had to save two PKs in the second half. And, of course, she did it. ( First PK Call , First Save ) ( Second PK Call ; Second Save ) I just love how we can count on Miller to attack the baseline; she creates lots of corners, and she created the game-winning goal tonight as she drove down low before sending it across the box. Ainsten had some choices as she drove the ball down the seam, but she chose wide to a walled-up Miller, and that became the game-winner with just a cool finish from Brooklyn. We are still allowing too much attack from the middle of the field as Carroll earned 7 corners and put 11 shots on frame to go along with several dangerous free kicks. In another match without Rylance, we certainly played hard tonight. Our work rate wa...

Game 5: (5-0-0) 2 April vs. St. James at St. James (2-0) 2024 Stats EKL Standings We traveled to St. James for a very subdued PinkOut, but a PinkOut nonetheless, and one in which we had our pink socks beaming brightly. And, of course, the PinkOut traveling trophy was up for grabs. The Saints came away with another win and another shutout, but those facts hardly summarize a match in which St. James controlled so much of it.  Maggie Payne was spectacular again, playing the ball out of the back, corraling those balls up in the air and those coming into her box. Most of those saves came out with a controlled pass to her most trusted defender, woman of the match, Jane Hansen. And in the end, being blessed with finishers, and with Cabantac who just finds people going to goal, wins games. We need to give a huge shoutout to Anna DiCarlo who saved a goal off that backline on one of the Thunder's 9 corner kicks. St. James would have gone up 1-0 at that point in the match. St. James had six ...