The Pittsburg Purple Dragons mounted a second half comeback against the Chanute Blue Comets, picking up a 6-2 win in girls soccer action on Monday.
Pittsburg controlled match pacing for the first 20 minutes before the Blue Comets found their groove. They quickly turned things back on the Purple Dragons, threatening the goal multiple times over the next 20 minutes of the half.
“I definitely think our communication on defense started working,” Chanute head coach Kelsey Fox said of the momentum shift. “Once we figured out what kind of offense we wanted to run, they made that switch really well. We did a really good job of getting through balls and crosses over and just attacking, so that created some really good opportunities for us.”
One such opportunity came in the 22nd minute. When freshman Nicole Delgado’s all-but-in shot was knocked away via handball, junior Marie Wright put Chanute on the board first with a no-doubter penalty kick.
Wright made good on the free shot after missing a similar opportunity during last week’s matchup against Wichita-Collegiate. Fox was happy to see the midfielder gaining confidence in the high-leverage spot.
“We talked about not letting that stress you out and how it’s basically like a pass into the goal. She felt confident to do it again, and it was really nice to see that work for her,” Fox said.
Just before halftime, junior Shamirra Rice was able to breakaway past a trio of defenders to net a goal on an assist from freshman Tracy Rodriguez.
“That definitely started with our defense. We had a beautiful pass to Tracy, she made that beautiful through ball, and instead of Shamira going straight to that ball, she just stayed in the middle and [waited],” Fox said, calling the goal-scoring shot ‘gorgeous.’ “We’ve worked on spacing for a long time, so it was good to see that being executed.”
Out of the intermission, Chanute resumed its control of the pitch for the first few minutes of play. This would quickly change as Pittsburg stole away all momentum with six unanswered goals.
“I’m not too upset with the loss because we’ve never been in the lead before, so we didn’t know how to really handle that,” Fox said. “We’ve got to finish out a game. Now that they’ve kind of been through that situation, hopefully they won’t be nearly as nervous.”
Easily the highlight of the night was the defensive line’s ability to deny Pittsburg’s opportunities outside of the breakaways that netted all six goals. The Purple Dragons managed to tally 20 shots, though that number would have been much higher without the pick-and-poke efforts of senior Hailey Braden and juniors Ella Guernsey and Gracie Wheeler.
“They do a good job of anticipating and making them go outside, which is exactly what we wanted,” Fox said.
Despite the many positives seen through three games, Chanute is clearly missing the trio of starters who are not on this year’s roster. Faith Fewins and Jeanette Guernsey graduated, while the program’s first-ever goal scorer - senior AnnaPaula Franco - is sidelined with injury for the entire season.
Fox noted that the Blue Comets are clearly lackingthe leadership and soccer I.Q. that these players provided over the last two seasons.
“We’re only a third year program, so we’re still learning a whole lot,” she said. “But, Marie does a really good job of kind of recognizing it, Shamira is starting to recognize it, and Emily Kennedy is doing a really great job of seeing it in her passes and switching the sides of the field.”
Sophomore Helen Mendez, and freshmen Tracy Rodriguez and Nicole Delgado are a few underclassmen who Fox already sees making a huge impact in the absence of last season’s go-to players.
“I just want them to be competitive, regardless of score. That comes in our communication, winning our 50-50 balls, and putting forth your best effort when they’re hurting and tired,” Fox said.
Up next
Chanute (0-2-1) was back at home on Thursday, hosting the Paola Panthers (0-3-0). The Blue Comets begin a fourgame road trip on Tuesday, matching up first against the Bonner Springs Braves (0-2-0).
“I would love to see what we did in the first half tonight,” Fox said of her hopes for the matchup against Paola. “I just want them to have that love of the game, come out there, and show it for a full 80 minutes.”
