HHS’ health improves, so does team’s play
The Highland girls soccer team was decimated with injuries early in the season with more than half the team having suffered an injury.
Highland returned some players to the lineup for Tuesday’s conference home game against visiting Civic Memorial and the results were positive.
Trailing 2-1 at halftime, the Lady Bulldogs played their best half of the season en route to a dominant performance that easily could have seen them win by multiple goals before settling for a 2-2 with the Eagles at Glik Park.
“In the second half, I thought the girls played outstanding and we moved the ball really well and created a lot of opportunities, especially in that second half, and I am happy with how we played today,” said Highland coach Josh Oswald.
On Thursday, Highland did not play poorly and again had a much better second half in a 5-1 loss to a very good Waterloo team.
Even though the tie and the loss were not the outcomes HHS desired, the health and play of the team was better than it was while suffering through a rash of injuries that saw Highland be outscored 17-1 in its first four games.
“I don’t like using injuries as excuses because all teams go through it but over half our team has sustained an injury at some point this season and we only just played our fifth game,” said Oswald, whose team is 1-4-1 in its first six games and is 0-2-1 in Mississippi Valley Conference play. “I think now that Spring Break is over and we have all the girls back, and as some of these girls come back healthy from some injuries we will start to gel. I really saw some positive things in tonight’s game that we can take away from and improve on it a little more and hopefully string some wins together here.”
HHS 2, CM 2
Highland senior Amanda Ponce netted the equalizer in the 49th minute for her first goal since late in her sophomore year after electing not to play last season. After dogged and sustained pressure by Ponce and senior Lily Happold (goal), junior Alisse Koishor (one assist), sophomore Katie Wills and freshman Kate Marti, Ponce pounced on the ball just outside the penalty area (box) and boomed a blast by the keeper and into the side netting to deadlock the match.
“We are getting better everyday,” Ponce said. “This is the first time a lot of us have played together. Today we passed the ball very well and we will just have to keep working, and stay healthy.”
One thing that hurt Highland was the referee robbing Highland of a potential game winner when he blew the play dead on a mistaken off-sides call. The referee admitted to Oswald repeatedly that he was sorry for the bad call.
“(CM) kicked the free kick right to us and Ponce and Alisse (Koishor) would have had a 2 on 1 with the girl who took the free kick, and she wouldn’t have got there,” Oswald said. “You would have liked to think that we’re going to finish that, but he’s human and people make mistakes. But he admitted it, and we also had other chances to score so I can’t pin the game on one chance.”
The three first-half goals were scored in the first 12:10 of the game.
Happold struck first about three minutes into the game for her first goal of the season. Happold was in the right place on a free kick and it came right to her foot about 25 yards out and she chipped it over the CM goalkeeper to christen the scoreboard.
“It was a beautiful goal,” Oswald said.
But CM countered with two goals in about a 4 1/2 -minute span to go on top 2-1 with still 37:50 to play in the first half. Cassie Hall and McKenzie Dixon notched the markers for the Eagles.
The game would remain 2-1 in CM’s favor until Ponce pulled Highland even early in the second half.
Highland sophomore goalie Morgan Zobrist made six saves to earn the tie.
Waterloo 5, HHS 1
Oswald again found some positives with his team’s play, but was not too pleased that his team gave up a goal early in the first half and another right before the half.
“We played a very strong Waterloo team that has a lot of talent,” he said. “Overall, I thought I saw some good things, especially in the second half. But we pride ourselves in starting the game and the second half strong, and ending the half and the game strong. We want to win the first five minutes and the last five minutes. And in the first half we did not do that as we gave up a goal 2:43 into the game and then another goal with 1:47 left and we go down 0-2 into halftime. It was now an uphill battle instead of 0-0.
“So I wasn’t too happy with how we started or ended the first half. But in the second half there were some positive signs to take away from the game and we are just going to keep improving and getting better with each day.”
Waterloo tacked on three more goals in the second half.
Highland’s keepers, Zobrist and Taylor Townsend, saw plenty of action. The duo combined for 16 saves, with Zobrist denying 12 Waterloo shots on goal and Townsend stopping four of them.
Ponce notched HHS’ only goal after halftime as she made it a pair of goals in back-to-back games. She scored off an assist from junior Abby Stulir.
For Waterloo, Sydney Luedeman recorded a hat trick, including the game-winning second goal, and added an assist while Heather Elliott and Mollie Zeisset each had one goal.
Bailey Bosler and Hillary Kaniecki combined for the win in the net for Waterloo.
This story was originally published March 30, 2016 at 9:30 AM with the headline "HHS’ health improves, so does team’s play."