Hillsboro’s historic run ended with a 6-0 loss in the Class 3 girls soccer quarterfinals on Saturday against a Rockwood Summit squad that Hawks head coach Chris Schacht said in his opinion is the “hands-down favorite” to win the Class 3 championship.
“They’re the real deal, for sure,” he said.
And Schacht said his team was “a little shell shocked” facing an opponent of that caliber.
“They do a lot of impressive things from every part on the field,” he said. “Whether it’s down the middle, out wide, in the back, up front, it doesn’t matter. They’re very skilled, very athletic and very seasoned at every position.”
The game was barely three minutes old when Summit took a 1-0 lead on what Schacht said was “a perfect shot” from about 22 yards.
“We had the girl defended, taking away the shooting land,” Schacht said. “She just hit a shot that kept fading away from our keeper. Shea (Luby) got a piece of it, but it still went into the upper 90. It was just that good a shot.”
The second goal came around the 16th minute off of a nice give-and-go combination that Schacht said put the Summit player into the box for the easy shot.
“When you lose a game, if you simply get beat by the other team, I’m fine with that,” said Schacht, whose team finished the season 18-11. “If you give games away, I’m the opposite, I don’t want to give games away making mistake after mistake after mistake. We just got beat by a better team today.”
The win marked Summit’s 17th win against two losses and three draws.
Schacht said he hopes his team is better for the experience.
“That’s why we have good teams on our schedule, to prepare us for the postseason,” he said. “When you play a team like this and you see the way they possess the ball, the movement of the ball, that will just make us a more seasoned team, make things a little bit, I’m not going to say easier, but a little bit clearer as far as what to expect.”
As for next season, Schacht expects the Hawks to put the lessons learned to good use, as the team loses just two players (Allyson Bridges and Jillian Schlote) to graduation.
“When we get into next spring, or even during our offseason work, hopefully that’s their goal is to push a little more and get a taste of the final four,” he said. “You always want to go one step further than the year before, and with 15 juniors coming back, this experience is something they can bring to the table next year when they come back.”
Hillsboro will have to replace a pair of four-year starters whom Schacht said were cornerstones of the team. Schlote returned from knee surgery to repair torn knee ligaments, and she finished the season with 15 goals and 20 assists, setting a program record in the latter category. Schlote will play soccer next season at the College of St. Mary in Omaha.
“Jillian came back not quite where she was when she left off, but you could see her game definitely got better as the season wore on,” Schacht said. “I think she was almost back to where she was, which is good news for her college coach this upcoming fall.”
Outside back Bridges was a key member of a defense that posted 10 shutouts, and she will play next season at Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia.
“Ally was probably our best one-on-one defender,” Schacht said. “We don’t do it a whole lot, but if we did, she man-marked a team’s best player. Ally was usually the one we put on that girl because she’s so disciplined. Ally’s just a defender, and she loves to defend.”
Joining Bridges on defense for the Hawks were juniors Raechel Hamilton, Lauren Kuehn and Lauren Pickett.
“They were stalwarts back there,” Schacht said. “I don’t like to sub in on the back line unless I have to, and there were many games where those girls didn’t leave the field.”
Junior Abby Schacht helped lead the way offensively, scoring 31 goals to break the program’s goal-scoring record and adding 13 assists.
“I think Abby just kind of understood her position a little more this year,” Schacht said of his daughter. “Just her realizing that it’s OK to push forward and almost be like a second striker at times. She also worked on her finishing, and that helped quite a bit, too.”
Other contributors included juniors Breanna Sebaugh (13 goals, 13 assists), Payton Kuehn (7, 5) and Mollie Dulle (7, 2).
“We had a nice balanced scoring attack, which we hadn’t seen the likes of in 22 years of Hillsboro soccer,” the coach said. “I thought we had five girls capable of double-digit goals.”
With so many players returning for next year, he said his team could be capable of doing some damage.
“When this group gets to be seniors, I think we’ll see a lot more consistency,” he said. “For most of them, it’ll be their third year playing together. I’m really looking forward to next season.”