By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Klaus Kreutzer never likes to lose, but the veteran Hayden soccer coach knows that's Thursday's 2-0 non-league loss to St. James Academy, No. 4-ranked in Class 5A, was the kind of test the Wildcats, tied for No. 2 in 4A-1A, needed.
"They need to understand how hard they have to work to get to where we want to go and I think they got a pretty good idea today,'' Kreutzer said.
Hayden junior Briahna Barnett (center) tries to control the ball in Thursday's 2-0 Wildcat loss to St. James Academy. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden sophomore Mary Burenheide (right) battled St. James Academy senior Alyssa Campbell for the ball in Thursday's 2-0 Wildcat loss to the Thunder. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden, which fell to 7-1-1, played 8-1-0 St. James even for 76 of the 80-minute contest, but two goals within a four-minute span powered the Thunder to the victory.
Sophomore Patsy O'Brien scored at the 29:51 mark of the opening half off an assist from senior Christine Znidarsic to put St. James up 1-0 and junior Kenda Radke scored off O'Brien's pass about four minutes later to account for the final score.
"I told the team they (the Thunder) were out of the gate before we knew what happened,'' Kreutzer said. "They're just a very good team and we hadn't played at that level, but second half I think we got a little bit used to it and I think we had a little more poise when we were on the ball.''
Sophomores Addison Tauscher and Addison Fogarty combined for the shutout in goal for St. James.
"I thought we played well,'' St. James coach Mark Twellman said. "We possessed the ball well. Hayden played really good defensively. They were compact and made us work and kept our chances to a minimum.
"I would have liked us to switch the ball a little more to see if we could open up the middle of the field, but overall we played well.''
ST. JAMES ACADEMY 2, HAYDEN 0
St. James 2 0 -- 2
Hayden 0 0 -- 0
St. James Academy -- Goals: O'Brien, Radke. Assists: Znidarsic, O'Brien. Shutout: Tauscher, Fogarty.
