Heads held high

The Smith-Cotton girls soccer team reached new heights this season as the Lady Tigers made their first-ever appearance at the Class 2, District 10, finals.

Despite the possession advantage, the Lady Tigers fell to the Jefferson City Lady Jays 1-0 Thursday at the Susie Ditzfeld Memorial Soccer Field.

Jefferson City’s lone goal came on a 35-yard floater that skimmed off the finger tips of S-C goalkeeper Cristian Sharp.

“The ball just didn’t roll our way,” said Smith-Cotton coach Shawn Cairer. “That’s the way it happens sometimes. We have nothing to hang our heads about. We played hard, we worked hard. It was a good accomplishment for these girls.”

To match up against Jefferson City’s height, Smith-Cotton relied on its physical presence throughout the game.

S-C could not find its offensive rhythm early. The Lady Jays strung together several quality offensive possessions. Each time Sharp and the Lady Tiger defense turned them away. 

At the 19:53 mark of the first half, Jefferson City rifled a shot from inside the 18-yard box but Sharp made a diving save to keep the game scoreless. 

With the game becoming increasingly more intense, the momentum began to swing to the side of S-C.

Smith-Cotton had corner kick opportunities at the 6:44 and the 6:05 mark, but they failed to produce a goal.

“The first half, I don’t know if it was nerves or what but we didn’t come out like we wanted it,” Cairer. “We had a couple opportunities deep in the box but just couldn’t finish or it hit the post.”

Smith-Cotton dominated the possession game in the second half.

The Lady Tigers found themselves with three quality scoring chances in the first five minutes of play in the second half. At the 35:02 mark, Tiffany 

Wehmeyer sent a screaming shot that whistled just wide of the post, sending a packed S-C cheering section into a groan.

In the next 10 minutes, the Lady Tigers had a shot hit off the crossbar and a corner kick opportunity that could not be turned into goals.

At the 22:21 mark, a Lady Jay mid-fielder lofted a floating shot that tipped off Sharp’s fingers and into the back of the net. The shot gave Jefferson City the only goal it needed.

“Those are tough ones in soccer, those high lofty ones,” Cairer said. “I was really happy with the way we played in the second half. We decided we wanted it more and we were getting it done.”

The Lady Tigers made some adjustments offensively after the Jefferson City goal. Amanda Azan left her position as a defender and moved up top to help the offense.

Wehmeyer, Jessica Greer and Azan peppered the Jefferson City goalie with everything they had but could not manage to put one in the net.

The Lady Tigers ended their impressive season with a 22-5 record, including their first ever West Central Conference championship.