Sydney Luedeman, Erika Lloyd score goals as Waterloo girls soccer team edges Gibault
The usual ringleaders were back at work Saturday for the Waterloo High girls soccer team.
Sophomore Sydney Luedeman and senior Erika Lloyd scored goals for the Bulldogs as they held on for a 2-1 victory over Gibault at wind-ravaged Oerter Park in Columbia.
Luedeman scored on an assist from sophomore keeper Bailey Bosler late in the first half before Lloyd converted a penalty kick 11 minutes into the second half.
Luedeman’s goal was her team-leading sixth of the season. Lloyd has two goals this season and 57 in her career, the third-most in the history of the Bulldogs program.
A strong, gusty wind out of the northwest made it interesting to watch every ball played in the air, but Luedeman said the Bulldogs (4-2-1) seemed to handle the conditions OK.
“It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. I thought it was going to be bad,” Luedeman said. “We’ve dealt with the wind pretty much every game, so we’re kind of used to it by now. It didn’t affect us that bad.
“We’re doing pretty good right now. I think we’re working on our midfield. We’re getting better as the season goes (forward). We’ll be good.”
It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. I thought it was going to be bad. We’ve dealt with the wind pretty much every game, so we’re kind of used to it by now. It didn’t affect us that bad.
Waterloo sophomore Sydney Luedeman on playing in windy conditions
Waterloo has two losses, but they were against defending Class 1A state champion Rochester and Southwestern Conference power Edwardsville. The tie was against Columbia.
“I’m very proud of our defense,” Bulldogs coach Chad Holden said. “We limit the other team from getting any shots in the flow of the game. We’ve only been scored on, pretty much, on set pieces. And that’s again how we got scored on today. We don’t give up many goals.”
Key moments
Waterloo enjoyed the better of the play in the first half, but was unable to crack Gibault’s defense or senior goalie Abby Meyer until the late stages.
Bosler made a long kick down the field, and Luedeman ran onto the ball. With Meyer coming off her line, Luedeman popped it over her to make it 1-0 at 36 minutes, 2 seconds.
“I don’t know if (Bosler) has ever had an assist. She was pretty excited,” Holden said. “You could see it was going to bounce, then with that wind doing a little havoc with the ball, you could almost sense it was going to go over (the defense). For her to be able to flick it over the goalie like that and put it still on net was pretty impressive in itself.”
First-year Hawks coach Hanna Schuermann said it was a difficult play for Meyer.
“It’s a hard decision for a goalie to come out or stay back,” Schuermann said. “She’s learning a lot. She’s a new goalie. Luedeman’s a very smart player. If she wouldn’t have come out, Luedeman still probably would have found a corner.”
Lloyd’s penalty kick came at 50:59 after the referee ruled the Hawks tackled Waterloo sophomore Sydney Bockhorn inside the top of the box.
We have a lot of seniors this year, but they took that (penalty kick) and all of our heads dropped. There was nothing we could do about that except keep going. We made some changes in our back and moved up.
Gibault girls soccer coach Hanna Schuermann on the penalty kick that gave Waterloo a 2-0 lead
“What was impressive with that one is Sydney Bockhorn made about a 60-yard run,” Holden said. “She was dribbling through girls, got into the box and we got the PK out of it. She did a lot of dirty work to get that PK.”
The goal proved to be the difference in the game because Gibault (2-5) climbed within 2-1 at 76:47 on senior Maddie O’Neill’s crisp header off a corner kick by senior Abby Hasenstab.
“We have a lot of seniors this year, but they took that (PK) and all of our heads dropped,” Schuermann said. “There was nothing we could do about that except keep going. We made some changes in our back and moved up.”
Still pushing
Schuermann remains optimistic that the Hawks, who have lost four in a row, will make an impact this season.
Gibault’s roster includes 11 seniors, including talented offensive performers like O’Neill, Hasenstab and senior Carley Olson, whose five goal lead the team. Seniors Robyn Lindsey and Paige Lane are returning starters on defense.
Four of the Hawks’ losses are to Collinsville, Belleville West, Edwardsville and Waterloo.
“We have a short roster,” Schuermann said, referrring to the Hawks’ depth. “All of our girls get minutes every game. Trying to keep them healthy is another issue Gibault has. It’s a tough beginning of the year, but hopefully these games are just practice. We look at that every day as just another game we learn something from to move forward.
“We ended this game better than we started, so that’s always a plus.”
David Wilhelm: 618-239-2665, @DavidMWilhelm
This story was originally published April 2, 2016 at 4:30 PM with the headline "Sydney Luedeman, Erika Lloyd score goals as Waterloo girls soccer team edges Gibault."