INDEPENDENCE– The Lady Spartans put two in the net during the first half and leaned on its defense in the second, claiming a 2-0 victory over the Independence Mustangs at Lyle Leinbaugh Field, in Independence, on Tuesday, May 11.
“It’s always great to take a road win and I felt the girls came out with good energy against a very physical team. Morgan’s (Link) first goal came from running centrally at their back line and her second one came from the top of the box with an assist from (Stella) Mesch. Our defense did a great job and Alex Paisley only had to make a few saves for the night.”
Although Varsitybound.com did not have the Mustangs’ statistics available at the time of filing, Alex Paisley defended the goal for 80 minutes for Solon, making three saves. Morgan Link was responsible for both of Solon’s scores and fired six times, four of which ere on goal strikes. Alex Locke shot three times, twice on goal; Stella Mesch fired three times, once on goal; Gabby Knipper shot twice, once on goal; Sydney Rissman fired twice; Grace Yetley shot once on goal; and Georgia Havlicek shot once for the Lady Spartans.
“I felt our center mids (Yetley, Knipper, Rissman) did a good job controlling the middle,” Coach Paulson elaborated. “Christine Diersen and the rest of our back line also did a great job shutting them down defensively in the second half.”
The win moved the Lady Spartans to 9-4 on the season and relegated Independence to 3-9.
A busy week for Solon meant the Lady Spartans faced one more challenge, a road trip on Friday, May 14, to face the Vinton-Shellsburg Vikettes, at Vinton-Shellsburg High School, in Vinton.
“We have two very busy weeks with some girls battling injuries,” Paulson explained. “Recovery practices and maintaining mental focus will be important for our next three regular season games.”