St. Pius X and Windsor both were struggling to score goals going into their Jefferson County Activities Association game in Imperial on Friday night.
The Lancers and Owls each had been shut out in their last two games and despite showing flashes of brilliance this spring (St. Pius beat De Soto 7-0 on March 29 and Windsor was one goal better, downing the Dragons 8-0 on April 26) both teams mostly have sputtered on offense, hovering around the .500 mark.
So it was no surprise that the host Owls prevailed 1-0 Friday, with Jordan Kolinski setting up Bailey Peters to the left of St. Pius goalkeeper Sophie Meyer and Peters firing the game’s only goal from an angle at 7:26 of the first half. Windsor improved to 8-7 overall and 3-2 in the league while the Lancers dipped to 6-8-1 and 1-1.
“Jordan set it up perfectly and I knew I had to hit it as hard as I could,” said Peters, a senior. “I did and it went in. It was lucky for sure.” It was her fourth goal of the season and the 28th of her Owl career.
“We need to pressure the box more. We kind of give up when it gets close to the goal. If we get better passes and go stronger to the goal, I think we’ll score more.”
Windsor head coach Mike Hutchison said neither team created many dangerous chances. “The one time Jordan beat a defender, she drew somebody to her and was able to find Bailey wide open on the left side and she hit a great shot,” Hutchison said. “Other than that, it was the story of the defenses and a lot of play between the 20 (yard lines).”
St. Pius head coach Aaron Portell has a conundrum: his best defensive player is also his best forward and maybe even top goalie. That’s senior A.J. Agers, who concludes a marvelous four-year prep career this month after starring in softball, basketball and soccer. Agers usually patrols the back line, but as the second half wound down against the Owls, she started moving up.
“We’re the least experienced up top,” Portell said. “It’s something that will take the kids getting more comfortable up there. Windsor has more experience at forward than we do. I think we need to be strong in the middle and defensively, but we’ve got to find a way to score goals.
“It was an evenly matched game; we just weren’t able to put one in.”
Windsor goalkeeper Piper Montgomery, a stalwart in the net for four years, made a dazzling save late in the game to preserve the win and the shutout. She got plenty of help from defenders Elizabeth Spurgeon, Mallory Gillick and Lexi Menne and midfielder Maci Mayfield.
“(The Lancers) made a couple of passes to put the ball in a dangerous spot,” Hutchison said. “Each year (Montgomery) improves on something. This year she’s coming off the line and playing through balls and really breaking plays up before they get dangerous.”
Denied the opportunity to play varsity soccer together last spring because of the COVID-19 shutdown, the senior Kolinski and her sophomore sister, Taylor, have clicked together this year. Jordan, a first-team all-JCAA player in 2019, leads the Owls with 14 goals and 37 points and has 40 goals for her career. Taylor has seven goals and 24 points in her first season on the varsity.
“They looked really good in the jamboree last year before we got shut down,” Hutchison said. “We were excited they were going to get to play together. They feed off each other very well.
“At the end of the game (Jordan) knew we needed more defense and not necessarily another goal, so she took it upon herself to play more defense. Players like her know what the team needs at any moment.”
Agers is tied for the Lancer team lead in goals (5) with sophomores Bella Barbagallo and Riley Cappozzo, the future of the St. Pius attack.
“Bella is our main target up top,” Portell said. “She’s our best opportunity to score. Cappozzo has the speed and skill and is able to control things in the middle with (junior) Colleen Flanagan. Our future looks really good.”
The near future has both teams preparing for their district tournaments. The Lancers are in Class 1 District 1 at Lutheran South, along with Hancock and Kelly, while the Owls are in Class 3 District 2 with host Hillsboro, Farmington and De Soto.
Windsor, district champions in 2019, blanked the Knights 3-0 on Monday on the strength of two goals by senior Maddy Gillick.