By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Shawnee Heights girls soccer team made a first-half goal stand up, preserving the lead to win at Seaman 1-0 Thursday.
Shawnee Heights freshman Morgan Robinson (9) scored the game's only goal in the T-Birds' 1-0 UKC soccer win over Seaman. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Taking a pass from Shawnee Heights junior Isabelle Van Fleet, freshman Morgan Robinson dribbled into the heart of the Seaman defense and punched a shot to the left post with 6:26 remaining in the first half.
Taking a first half lead didn’t immediately affect the T-Birds strategy in the United Kansas Conference.
“It changes things a little bit, but (the goal) came so early that it was still, ‘Ok, we need to still do what we need to do, play our game,’” said Shawnee Heights coach Kellen Griffin. “Then when it gets toward the end it’s like, ‘Now we need to shore up some things defensively to make sure we’re not giving up a late goal.’ ”
T-Bird goalkeeper MacKenzie Mertel headed the effort to hold the lead.
“It felt like a lot of pressure, but I know that we have a good team this year and I felt confident we could (preserve the shutout),” Mertel said.
Numerous yellow cards and spirited play marked the contest. Griffin said that intensity comes with the rivalry.
“The game with Seaman is always close,” Griffin said. “It doesn’t matter if one team is really up or the other one is really down. The game is always going to be close. So many of these girls play together in the offseason. They are all friends, and they want to get one over on their friends.”
Shawnee Heights improved to 4-1-0 on the season. Seaman fell to 3-1-1.
While the match was spirited, there was no louder outburst than when Griffin told the team they would not have practice Friday. That shouldn’t be interpreted, however, as laziness on the part of the T-Birds.
“The girls come to practice ready to work hard every single day. We still have a lot of things that we need to do to get better,” Griffin said. “We’re a young team this year after a lot of people graduated, but we’ve got great leaders.
“We’ve got some of that fight from last year from close games that didn’t quite go our way. Now we’ve won two close games, and it shows we’re fighting through some of those things.”
Though just a sophomore, Mertel is one of a handful of experienced returners helping lead the way for Shawnee Heights.
“I love this team. It’s a great environment,” Mertel said. “We have a lot of fun, but we also put in the work to be good. This definitely boosts our confidence.”
Shawnee Heights (4-1-0) 1 0 — 1
Seaman (3-1-1) 0 0 — 0
Shawnee Heights — Goal: Robinson. Assist: Van Fleet 1. Shutout: Mertel
