St. Henry 1 Villa Madonna 0

The Villa Madonna girls' soccer season reached the end on Monday night as they were eliminated from Districts in a 1-0 loss to St. Henry.

Villa was in defensive mode for the majority of the game...a reflection of their overall season which consisted of several 1-0 losses or 0-0/1-1 ties.

St. Henry was aggressive from the kickoff. An early goal was called back as the Villa keeper had possession on the ground when the ball was kicked out of her hands.

Crusaders Grome, Kent (MacKenzie), Laudenslayer, Pope and Ives were smoking with their speed, footwork and power shots.

They definitely made Villa goalie, Brooke Meier, earn her "keep", LOL.

Meier had 17 saves in the first half, with the Villa defense following her lead by preventing St. Henry from converting several excellent passes and head shots.

The second half brought even more pressure from St. Henry, who was determined to slip one in the net.

With 26 minutes remaining, St. Henry's #24 MacKenzie Kent was able to split the Villa defenders to get the shot off and hit the bottom 90. It was a perfectly timed, well-placed shot as GK Meier was covering the angle at the front post, with Villa defenders Caitlin Riordan in position at the back post, and Alyssa Pickens in the center covering the cross-back. An excellent goal for the Crusaders that would prove to be a game decider! Congrats to Miss Kent for her outstanding contributions on the evening.

Meier would accumulate another 15 saves in the second half, totalling 32 on the game.

No other goal would be scored by either side.

St. Henry goalie, Riegler, established her presence in the box early and again at the end of the game. She successfully deflected/saved a handful of shots that Villa was able to generate, causing momentary excitement in the stands for the Blue Lightning fans. However, for the most part, the Villa offense did not present themselves as much of a challenge for Riegler and her defenders.

Congratulations to the Lady Crusaders (players and coaching staff) on their win and securing a spot in the District Finals Wed night. Their current record is 12-5-0

For the Blue Lightning of Villa, the game may not have ended as they hoped, but Kudos to the players and coaching staff for finishing 11-6-4, winning their 6th consecutive NKAC Division III Championship, and earning the ranking of 13th in the State in regular season team defense based on goals allowed per game.

A heartfelt congrats and best wishes in future endeavors to the Senior players on the Villa squad who are graduating this coming May: Maddie Berberich, Maddie Malone, Maddie Schenthal and Sarah Surace.

Best of luck to the St. Henry Crusaders, as they look to face Dixie in the District Finals Wed night.