Douglas High girls soccer
Douglas High's Helene Henry-Greard slides in on Bishop Manogue's Emmery Kate Guillen during the first half of a Class 5A regional quarterfinal contest between the Tigers and the Miners. Douglas won 3-0 and will play McQueen Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m.
Photo by Ron Harpin.
A 3-0 win to open regional quarterfinal play was a nice step for Douglas High girls’ soccer, but nobody on the Tiger sideline was overly thrilled with the win.
Tomorrow brings a new day and a new opponent in No. 2-seeded McQueen.
The Lancers just knocked off the Tigers 3-0 on Douglas’ Senior Night, leaving the four seniors with only thoughts of avenging that loss.
“We got them,” said senior keeper Madi VonAhsen. “We got them.”
“It’ll be redemption. It was Senior Night so that was an 'L' for us,” said Hannah Shaw. “I think next time we will come out stronger. We are this far, so we might as well keep going.”
Douglas needed a few minutes to settle in Wednesday afternoon, but in the 25th minute the Tigers broke through.
Seara Macpherson put a cross into the box that was booted around.
As the ball settled, Bailey Rozier knocked it forward to Campbell Dedmon, who put a shot off the post, off the Miner keeper and in.
From then on, the Tigers’ showed how much fight they wanted, battling with the Miners throughout the next 60 minutes.
A couple of Douglas players caught some glancing blows, but the fuel continued into the second half.
“If we come out tomorrow how we came out today, then we got them all day,” senior Kamryn Harper added.
Kickoff tomorrow at McQueen will be at 4 p.m.
Productive youth
The seniors have been staples with the program and know what it’s like to win postseason regional games.
Wednesday afternoon’s second half production came from some of the younger Tiger members.
Douglas’ second goal came in the 57th minute when Kylee Lash lofted a textbook pass over the top of the Miner defense.
Freshman Ava Coons ran onto the end of the pass and used a quick touch to beat a diving Bishop Manogue keeper to the corner of the net.
“We’re really proud of them,” said senior Kennedy Cole. “This is what we want to build for the future, so it’s good to see them getting started on that.”
Along with the underclassmen scoring efforts, Douglas also got crucial minutes on the backline from freshman center back Zoe Baligad, who got her first start Wednesday night.
The move allowed Cole to press up the field more and help the Tiger midfield.
Though she didn’t score Macpherson was all over the attacking third Wednesday, pressuring defenders to move the ball and occasionally securing a turnover.
The sophomore forward took some bumps, but continued to receive praise from her bench for her efforts on loose balls.
In the 70th minute, a throw-in from Shaw found its way to the feet of Helene Henry-Greard.
With her back to the goal, Henry-Greard maneuvered for space, turned and buried a shot in the far corner.
As the No. 3 seed, Douglas will travel to No. 2 McQueen Thursday. It likely means that those Tiger seniors have played their last game on their home turf.
“It feels really good. This has been our home and this has been the place that has supported us for so long. It feels good that we got to go out with a bang,” said Cole.
For live updates from tomorrow’s regional semifinal, follow @CarterEckl on Twitter.
Other quarterfinal scores
No. 2 McQueen 4, No. 7 Reno 0
No. 1 Galena 5, No. 9 Damonte Ranch 0
No. 4 Reed 2, No. 5 Spanish Springs 0
