By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Friday was one of those rare occasions in sports where the coach of the team that came up on the short end of the score was about as happy as the coach of the team that ended up with the victory.
Washburn Rural senior Mackinly Rohn scored the lone goal in Friday's 1-0 Centennial League win at Hayden. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural sophomore Kate Hinck and Hayden sophomore Camryn McDonald chase the ball in Friday's 1-0 Rural win at Hayden. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden's girls soccer team went toe to toe with city, Centennial League and Class 6A power Washburn Rural from start to finish Friday at Hayden, with the Junior Blues escaping with a 1-0 victory on senior Mackinly Rohn's second-half goal.
Washburn Rural, which improved to 7-1-0 overall and 3-0 in the Centennial League, had a stiff wind at its back in the opening half but couldn't take advantage. In fact, Hayden had the best two scoring opportunities of the half less than 10 minutes into the game, but Rural senior goalkeeper Hailey Beck kept the Wildcats out of the net.
Hayden (3-2-1, 0-1) couldn't get much going offensively in the second hald despite the wind adantage and Rohn finally broke the ice with 16:30 left to play.
"I thought their effort and performance was very good,'' Hayden coach Klaus Kreutzer said of his Wildcats. "We had a short hiccup (on Rohn's goal) and we had opportunities. The key is to keep that intensity and keep that level of work.''
Washburn Rural coach Brian Hensyel also had good things to say about Hayden but was happy his team was able to come away with the victory.
"I thought Hayden played really hard and they were super organized and made it hard to score goals,'' Hensyel said. "We had the big wind in the first half and we couldn't get any good chances. We couldn''t get in the box and I thought they played great defense.
"We told the girls that sometimes you don't have your best game. It wasn't our best night but we found a way to get a goal and tough a win out For us the biggest thing probably was that's seven shutouts in eight games. Hayden probably should have scored a couple in the first half and then in the second half we really didn't give them any good chances when they had the wind.''
Hayden will be at home next Tuesday to host Junction City in a Centennial League contest while Washburn Rural will travel to Wichita to face Bishop Carroll.
WASHBURN RURAL 1, HAYDEN 0
Washburn Rural (7-1-0, 3-0) 0 1 -- 1
Hayden (3-2-1, 0-1) 0 0 -- 0
Washburn Rural -- Goal: Rohn Shutout: Beck.
