Panther soccer teams 2nd in tourney

The Creston girls and boys soccer teams each placed second at their own invitational tournament on Saturday.

The Panther girls (4-10-2) shut out Greene County 7-0 in the tourney opener, after the Panther boys defeated Panorama 6-2 in their opener.

Both Creston squads went scoreless in the finals, as the West Central Valley boys topped the Panthers 5-0; and Panorama improved to 11-3-1 for the season in beating the Creston girls, 10-0.

Greene County girls remained winless for the season in falling to Creston in the opening round. Creston dominated from the start, as Olivia Burwell scored the first of her two goals just 2:54 into the opening half into the upper left corner of the goal from a right side attack.

Alyssa Gerdes added another goal at the 20:38 mark. Burwell, Gerdes and Lillie Strode (of Nodaway Valley) were seniors honored with their parents prior to the Greene County match. Strode took an elbow to the eye and was held out much of that match, but returned to action in the loss to Panorama.

Claire Ralston followed up a shot by Gerdes that was blocked and took the ball into the Greene County net for a 3-0 lead with just 27 seconds left in the first half.

The second half was much the same, with Creston’s attack controlling the action. Gretchen Hoepker was in position to follow up a block of Ralston’s shot for at 5-0 lead at 37:54, after a Greene County foul set up Burwell for a goal on a free kick.

A foul in the box led to a penalty kick goal by Ralston to make it 6-0, and Hoepker scored on a runout for her second goal to account for the final 7-0 margin at 42:13.

Co-coach Ryan Burwell was pleased with the team’s execution of the game plan — to attack from the opening whistle. He said the goal was for goalkeeper Lea Stonebraker to have a boring day, in hopes of pressing the attack into Greene County’s defensive territory as much as possible. (Greene County had only two shots on goal in 60 minutes.)

“Our girls did great in that game,” Burwell said. “The passing was especially good. Our offense put pressure on the them from the start, just like we talked about.”

The Panthers couldn’t manage that kind of energy and production in the championship match against Panorama, which bolted to a 9-0 halftime lead. Stonebraker had seven saves in the match.

The Panther boys opened with a solid 6-2 win over Panorama before falling to West Central Valley, 5-0. Aiden Brandon and Luis Huerta each scored two goals for the Wildcats, now 12-0-1. Jace Purdum had three Panther goals in the win over Panorama and Joaquin Flores had two.

Creston girls play at home Thursday against Knoxville. The Panther girls and boys (4-9-1) traveled to Red Oak today (Tuesday).

Girls

Creston 7, Greene County 0

Creston (7) — Goals: Olivia Burwell 2, Gretchen Hoepker 2, Claire Ralston 2, Alyssa Gerdes 1. Shots on goal (20) — Burwell 6, Ralston 5, Hoepker 4, Gerdes 2, Lillie Strode 1, Lauren Purdum 1, Brynn Tussey 1. Keeper saves — Lea Stonebraker 2.

Greene Co. (0) — Shots (on goal) — 2. Saves — 16.

Panorama 10, Creston 0

Creston (0) — None. Shots on goal — 0. Keeper saves — Lea Stonebraker 7.

Panorama (10) — Shots on goal — 18. Saves — 0.

Boys

Creston 6, Panorama 2

Creston (6) — Goals: Jace Purdum 3, Joaquin Flores 2, David Sandoval 1 Shots on goal (13) — J. Purdum 3, Flores 3, Hector Suazo 2, Sandoval 1, Carlos Page 1, Justin Loudon 1, Ayden Purdum 1, Wyatt Burwell 1. Keeper saves — Barret Lane 10.

Panorama (2).

West Central Valley 5, Creston 0.

Creston (0) — Goals: None. Keeper saves — Barret Lane 3.

WCV (5) — Luis Huerta 2, Aiden Brandon 2, Garret Wolfe 1. Shots on goal— 12. Keeper saves — 3.