Notre Dame-West Burlington/Danville gets offensive in girls soccer win over Burlington
Notre Dame-West Burlington/Danville girls soccer coach Todd Ackerman was looking for some way to jump-start his team's offense.
Prior to Tuesday's match against crosstown rival Burlington, Ackerman told sophomore defender Julianna Hill to come forward more and take as many shots on goal as she could.
Hill obliged her coach.
Hill scored two goals— one in each half — as the Nikes rolled to a convincing 3-1 win over the Grayhounds at Tackleson Field.
The win was the 101st of Ackerman's coaching career, and one he hopes will propel the Nikes on a path to the state tournament.
“We struggled for a little bit and the girls are finally starting to put it together," Ackerman said. "Against Regina, even though we lost the game, we played a lot better. We played better (Monday) night (against Mount Pleasant). We just couldn’t finish. Tonight we controlled the game really well. The girls played very strong. Good defense. We had good opportunities. We could still finish a little bit better, but that’s OK. And we controlled the ball in the middle. They did a nice job. I’m proud of the girls. Absolutely.”
"Todd wanted me taking more shots, so I just took every chance I had. I found a couple good shots," said Hill, who has 15 goals on the season. “That’s what Todd wants me to do is to get more involved in the offense and still get back on defense as a midfielder."
ND-WB/Danville (8-7) controlled the play from the outset. The Nikes, who have had trouble finishing at times this season, had numerous scoring chances early before Hill finally broke through with a booming shot from 28 yards out which sailed over the outstretched arms of BHS goalkeeper Jenna Hentzel and found the upper portion of the goal.
“Todd told us to have fun and outwork them, which is what we did. We hustled to every ball. Winning every ball. Just outworking them," Hill said.
“We played slow the entire game," BHS head coach Jacob Falls said. "We didn’t have the energy that we need. They came out and had the energy and the tempo. We were playing their game all night.”
Hadley Augustine made it a 2-0 match 4 1/2 minutes later, beating Hentzel with a blast from 18 yards out on the right side.
Hill scored again 1:49 into the second half before BHS (10-5) finally found some offense.
BHS forced three corner kicks and had three shots on goal in the second half, one of them by Kevynn Siefken, who beat goalkeeper Ava Rashid to cut the Nikes' lead to 3-1 with 28:09 left.
“They picked it up in spurts, but Notre Dame brought it the entire time," Falls said. "That was the difference. They had two great shots on goal in the first half and that kind of gets the morale down. We get one back and then they get that third. It’s hard to stay intense for the entire game when the score looks like that.”
Ackerman took time to reflect on his 100-win milestone, but knows there is little time for the Nikes to rest on their laurels.
“It was nice to get there," Ackerman said. "It took us a little longer than I had hopes, but that’s OK. It’s a great testament to the girls in the program, both the current ones and the prior ones. They’ve all done a great job. I appreciate coaches like Adam Parrott and Aron West and this year my daughter (Taylor Ackerman) and Ray Ott when he was here. They are all part of it and I really appreciate the effort of everyone put together. It’s been fun. I really look forward to the girls playing hard.”
ND-WB/Danville hosts Central DeWitt (4-12) in a Class 2A regional quarterfinal match at 6 p.m. Friday at Tackleson Field.
““It was big, just to get momentum going into Friday for regionals," Hill said. "It’s a rivalry, so that’s always big. But we really need that momentum going into our regional game.”
“We’ll keep on keeping on. It’s been good," Ackerman said. “Friday we host regionals, so I hope everyone comes out and enjoys it and we continue to play like we did tonight.”
BHS hosts Clinton (3-9) in a Class 2A regional quarterfinal at 6 p.m. Friday at Bracewell Stadium.
Burlington is in the midst of a breakthrough season, but Falls knows another performance like the one the Grayhounds had against the Nikes will mean trouble.
“I just know that we have to focus on our intensity and our effort. It’s something that each girl can control out there. If we don’t have it on Friday, then the season is going to be over," Falls said. “I know their record and their stats don’t look that great, but they play in the MAC. We played two MAC teams and we haven’t scored a goal yet, either. We’re prepared for a MAC team. Hopefully we’re playing again on Monday.”
Matt Levins is a sports reporter for the USA TODAY Network in Burlington, Iowa, who has covered local sports for 31 years. Reach him at mlevins@thehawkeye.com.
Notre Dame-West Burlington/Danville 3, Burlington 1
Burlington 0 1 — 1
ND-0WB/D 2 1 — 3
Scoring summary
ND-WB/D — 10:12 first half, Julianna Hill unassisted. ND-WB/D — 5:31 first half, Hadley Augustine unassisted. ND-WB/D — 38:11 second half, Hill unassisted. BHS — 28:09 second half, Kevynn Siefken from Mya Rehman.
MATCH STATISTICS
BHS. ND-WB/D
Shots. 6. 21
Saves. 11. 4
Fouls. 1. 4
Offsides 1. 4
Free kicks. 8 2
Corner kicks. 5. 3
Penalty kicks. 0. 0
Goal kicks. 26. 11
Yellow cards. 0 0
Red cards. 0. 0
Records: Burlington 10-5, Notre Dame-West Burlington/Danville 8-7.
This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: ND-WB/Danville tops crosstown rival Burlington in girls soccer
