Masuk Free Press

Masuk girls soccer gained another win Thursday, Oct. 5 in a match up against the Bethel Wildcats. The game ended 1 – 0 in the Panther’s favor. 

The Panthers started the half out strong, playing the first ten minutes with forceful offense. As the half continued on, the pace  slowed down, neither team heavy on the offense or defense. 

With five minutes left, Bethel picked up their pace and forced Masuk to rely on their strong defense. At the close of the first half neither team had managed to find the back of the net, leaving the score 0 – 0.

The second half picked up where they left off, both teams fighting to get the ball down the field. Fifteen minutes in, sophomore goalkeeper Kara Leandres made impressive saves setting the Panthers on to an aggressive forward effort. In the next five minutes, Masuk dominated the field, keeping the ball on offense. 

At 23:20 into the second half, goalkeeper Leandres made another save and cleared the ball down the field. With thirteen minutes left in the game, Masuk senior captain Hannah Dorney scored with a shot into the top right corner, bringing the score to 1 – 0. 

Senior captain Erin Davis said, “Just working together and getting that foul for a free kick was great. Hannah was able to rip it in the back of the net.” 

Both teams came off the goal with a new found intensity and thirty seconds later goalkeeper Leandres made a double save. The energy on the field was electric, and one minute later Leandres made yet another close save. The last five minutes of the game saw a tone shift as Masuk began to play defensively while still keeping it out of their goal, the game ending 1 – 0. 

“We knew we had a tough game going into it, so we are really happy with the score. Bethel is a strong competitor in the SWC and we came out very strong and that’s what helped us take a dub. We had a brick wall defense, our mids were able to possess and win fifty-fifty and our strikers had some great shots last night,” said Davis.

Come out and support the Panthers and especially their seniors in their senior night home matchup against Joel Barlow on Tuesday, Oct. 10.