'Lights-out' Buntrock lifts Lourdes past rival Kasson-Mantorville in girls soccer showdown
Sep. 16—KASSON — Grace Buntrock looked like the Energizer bunny for the Lourdes girls soccer team Thursday night.
Though she didn't score any of the Eagles' three goals against Kasson-Mantorville — Amelia Gossman scored the first and Rose Otto added the final two — Buntrock brought the energy and determination Lourdes needed to hand the KoMets their first loss of the season.
Lourdes coach Sarah Groven kept Buntrock in for the entire 40-minute second half, and she never slowed down.
"Lights out," Groven said. "She played phenomenal."
The Eagles (3-0 HVL, 6-1 overall) have allowed just four total goals in seven games this season. Thursday they picked up their third Hiawatha Valley League win of the fall, and it couldn't have come at a better time, after a tough loss to fellow Class A state powerhouse Winona Cotter on Monday.
"It's a game that we need to play well to be challenged to see where we fit, to see what we do well and what we don't do well," Groven said, "and (the KoMets) usually let us know."
K-M clearly had momentum on its side in the second half, especially after Delaney Awe scored the KoMets only goal of the night midway through the half.
But Buntrock led the Eagles' defense with her hustling style and never gave up on plays.
Groven said she was impressed with her team's ability to read K-M's formations and quickly respond on defense.
"I thought it was probably the best part of the night," she said.
The knowledge and skill of the Lourdes team is why K-M coach Rick Barnhill believes the Eagles are a top-four team in the state.
"You have to play to your best to even have a shot with them," Barnhill said. "I told Sarah after the game, 'Looks like a final four team to me.' I can't see anyone down here beating them in sections."
Ava Threinen wasn't going to let a broken hand end her soccer season at Kasson-Mantorville.
Threinen started the game with a thick blue cast — what her dad, activities director Broc Threinen, referred to as a club — on her right hand, and subbed in and out the rest of the game.
K-M standout Kaylee Narveson went down in the second half and lay on the field for a few minutes before walking off under her own power. Ella Stafford also left the game with cramps. Those issues are ones Barnhill and his team can work through.
A lingering problem for the KoMets, though, is the loss of three starters. Charlotte Woodrum went down "in the first hour of the first day," Barnhill said, and is done for the season. Megan Wyttenbach is nursing a sprained ankle, and Malea Haraldson is in concussion protocol.
The KoMets are relying on eighth- and ninth-graders as replacements for his missing starters.
The silver lining? Thursday was K-M's first loss this season. The KoMets (2-1 HVL, 5-1-1 overall) are still in the mix as a top team in the HVL and in Section 1AA.
