March 28, 2024

‘The feeling is amazing’ after Panthers get first girls soccer win of season

Panthers third, Valley Girls 2nd in tournament at Greenfield

GREENFIELD — The Creston Panthers charged the field and dog-piled each other after winning in a shootout against Greene County Saturday in the consolation final of the Valley Girls Tournament in Greenfield, 2-1.

The win was the first of the season for the Panthers, who got to the consolation final by losing 8-0 to Panorama.

“At first I didn’t think we were going to bounce back very well. We didn’t play very well early on. We just kind of woke up. We got a penalty kick, put it in, tied it up and played it out pretty well. We kind of got lucky that a couple of shots didn’t go in on us when they could have,” said Creston head coach Ryan Kissell. “We had a new goalie in there and she stood on her head in there and did a good job. We go to PKs and we couldn’t have done it without all five of our girls who took penalty shots. They put a lot of pressure on their goalie and it was a very good game.”

That new goalie for the Panthers in the Greene County game was sophomore Keyana Peterson. Kissell said she stepped into goal and played outstanding, stopping 14 of 14 shots on goal she faced.

Greene County freshman Esther Van Horn scored in the first half for a 1-0 lead for the Rams, then the Panthers tied the game up in the second on a goal from Autumn Stafford, which sent the game to penalty kicks.

“I was tense and nervous, but that just gave me motivation to get the win for the team, and that ended up happening,” said senior Kaci Abildtrup.

Madison McCoubrey, another senior, said that she hopes the team can carry the feeling of a win into a busy week, which starts tonight at home against Chariton, continues with a road trip Thursday to Harlan, and wraps up with Creston’s home soccer tournament Saturday.

Suffering seven straight losses prior to Saturday’s win, the Panthers were very happy with pullling a game out.

“We’ve been needing [to get a win] for awhile. The feeling is amazing,” McCoubrey said.

Valley Girls place second at home

The hometown West Central Valley/Nodaway Valley Valley Girls also went 1-1, beating Greene County 4-0 in the first round of the tournament and falling in the championship 3-0 to Panorama.

Valley Girls junior Madelyn Jaeger had a hat trick against the Rams, scoring three goals. Sophomore Bella Munoz scored another.

Against Panorama, the Panthers utilized good spacing and athleticism to get the win.

Caleb Nelson

Caleb Nelson

Caleb Nelson has served as News Editor of the Adair County Free Press and Fontanelle Observer since Oct. 2017. He and his wife Kilee live in Greenfield. In Greenfield and the greater Adair County area, he values the opportunity to tell peoples' stories, enjoys playing guitar, following all levels of sports, and being a part of his local church.