Playing the No. 12 Kansas City Kansas Blue Devils to a nil-nil draw in KJCCC women’s soccer action on Saturday, the Neosho County Panthers have firmly established darkhorse status as the postseason nears.
Under a storm that included a lightning delay, Neosho County peppered Kansas City Kansas’ defense with seven shots on goal while the Blue Devils tallied four.
“I’m very proud of the girls. It’s difficult when the weather conditions aren’t ideal,” Neosho County head coach Sam Hall said. “It was cold. There was rain and you’ve got a lightning delay. You go into relaxation mode for 30 minutes sitting in the locker room. They came back out fired up and didn’t need me. They did what we needed to do. I had full confidence we were going to win that game. We kept pushing forward for a goal. It just didn’t fall for us today.”
The Panthers mounted most of its attack in the second half, spending most of the final stanza in the offensive third.
Despite shot after shot, the ball never tickled the twine.
“We had to get back on the ball and we did that very well,” Hall said. “We kept winning the ball. We knew we had them. We had to keep probing, keep probing, keep probing. But the ball was just so tough to handle with the conditions. Every ball just slides through when it’s wet.”
Melissa Riley and Halle Dolphin each had two shots on goal for the Panthers. Neosho County keeper Evie McKane posted four saves.
Neosho County has turned the tide since a 2-6-1 start to the campaign. Since the turn of the month, the Panthers are 4-1-1. The lone loss was a 1-nil decision on the road to No. 1 Johnson County, a team that’s conceded four goals all year.
“They’re finally starting to realize what they’re capable of,” Hall said. “I didn’t have to install belief into them. I wasn’t trying to work miracles. They just brought what they’re capable of out of themselves. They’ve had that belief in them, now we’re seeing that in the results.”
Up next
Neosho County, now 6-7-2 overall, hits the road to face Crowder in its regular season finale on Tuesday.
“It’s an important game and Crowder is going to bring it,” Hall said. “We’ll approach it just like every game. But it’s also a chance for us to get better. If postseason falls our way, we can use the Crowder game to try something new and see what might work. We want to find out what we can do better.”
The Panthers then enter the NJCAA Region VI Tournament, where they’ll likely face Kansas City Kansas again in the first round.
