EHS notches 4th straight shutout in 1-0 victory
By The Emporia Gazette (Contact)
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
The Emporia High girls soccer team has been downright stingy on defense lately, and things certainly didn’t change Monday night against Wichita Northwest.
The Lady Spartans won their fourth straight game by defeating Northwest 1-0, and during that four-game winning streak, EHS has outscored its opponents 12-0.
“We’re playing pretty well defensively all over the field right now,” EHS coach John Decker said. “We are really pressuring other teams early and not letting them get deep into our defense before we put pressure on them. That’s forcing teams to take longer shots against us, and that makes things easier for our goalkeeper.”
The victory was the second 1-0 shutout in a row by the Lady Spartans (5-3) and the third this season, as they defeated Junction City by the same score last week and opened the season with a 1-0 victory over Wichita East.
On Monday, it was sophomore Joslyn Barton who gave EHS all the scoring it would need, as she put the ball in the net off a feed from Jessica Decker in the 23rd minute to put the Lady Spartans up, 1-0.
The goal came at a time when John Decker said his team played it best soccer of the night, recording the majority of its six shots on goal during that span.
“The first 20 minutes of the first half, we did not play real well. The second 20 minutes, we played well,” Decker said. “We got most of our shots off then, and we just kept the pressure on them (Northwest).
“After that, in the second half, we just kind of hung on and played defense.”
EHS goalkeeper Melanie Nuessen recorded the shutout, as she collected eight saves.
Emporia High is back in action at 6:15 tonight with a home matchup against Seaman at TRYSA.
Emporia 1, Wichita Northwest 0
Monday in Wichita
Emporia 1 0 — 1
Wichita NW 0 0 — 0
First Half
Emp — Joslyn Barton (assist from Jessica Decker), 23rd minute.
Game Statistics
Shots on goal — Emporia 6, WNW 8. Shots — Emporia 11, WNW 16. Saves — Emporia: Melanie Nuessen 8; WNW 5. Corner kicks — Emporia 1, WNW 6. Total fouls — Emporia 4, WNW 7.