WICHITA, Kan.—
The Independent girls’ soccer team won another game at home on Wednesday, as it took down the Thomas More Prep Lady Monarchs 3-1 in heat that reached the nineties. The Lady Panthers move to 5-4 on the year with the win.Julianna Fisher, Rebecca Johnson and Alise Coccetella were the goal-scorers for Independent. Johnson’s offensive impact has not been as great as last season, when she was one of the team’s top goal scorers. She has spent most of her time in the goalie position.
Coccetella has been one of the top goal scorers for the Lady Panthers, and is leading the Central Plains League in goals scored. Captain Amy Yeskie is behind her in third place.
Against Thomas More Prep, Independent came out strong despite the hot weather, and was able to stick together and execute its game plan.
“It was a really tough game because of the heat,” said Yeskie. “But despite that, we played really well as a team. The heat forced us to play smarter, because we had to conserve our energy and make wise decisions. We did a ton of passing, which was great.”
After the win that puts them over .500, the Lady Panthers will depend on its upcoming busy schedule to help them prepare for regionals. Next week, Independent will be participating in the North Cup, and will play its opening game on Monday against Mulvane. This will be a rematch of the season opener, which Mulvane won in overtime.
“I feel like we’ve improved a lot since then and if we focus our energy we’ll be able to come out on top,” said Yeskie.
There is still a long road in front of Independent that includes a schedule filled with games against some good teams, but that is what the team is looking for to make themselves better.
“We have to continue to play every game to our best ability,” Yeskie said. “If we go out and put in that 110-percent effort every game and keep improving, I know we’ll do great.”
