Stars shut out Tigers for third-straight win
Sep. 7—LEBANON — Coming into Tuesday night's match-up, the Western Boone girls soccer team hadn't beaten Lebanon since 2015.
And while it wasn't the best performance they have had all season, the Lady Stars topped the Tigers 2-0 on Tuesday, evening their Sagamore Conference record.
"We played hard, and I am very proud of our effort," Western Boone head coach Shane Steimel said. "We didn't feel like we connected passes like we thought we were going to. I feel like our best soccer is still to come, but you have to appreciate every win and it brings the team together when that happens."
Lebanon head coach Sam Parsons said she felt like the game was pretty even in a lot of spots, but when it came to the big situations, the Stars were a little more aggressive.
"They came out and wanted it a little more," Parsons said. "Some of our girls really wanted it, but we just weren't there to make some of the opportunities happen. We fought hard, we just waited a little too long."
Western Boone took a 1-0 lead in the game, when KaLeigh Steimel scored on a long-range shot 12 minutes into the game.
Both teams had other chances in the half, each hitting the crossbar and WeBo missed a good 1-v-1 opportunity as well.
"We had some other chances," Steimel said. "We had some beautiful corner kicks that were just a fraction from scoring. I thought we had some dangerous opportunities, we were just a half-step off on a few of them. But the girls played hard and they played with class, and didn't lose their composure."
A scary moment happened early in the second half, when Lebanon senior Ava Lehmkuhler was dribbling toward goal and went down injured on a challenge.
Lehmkuhler stayed down for several minutes before being taken away on a stretcher. She was alert the entire time.
Parsons said it was a tough situation to see one of the Tigers' leaders go down, but thought the girl played hard in the second half for their teammate.
"The girls wanted to make sure we fought for her," Parsons said. "The girls fought hard and they wanted to get at least a tie for Ava, we just couldn't make that happen."
The Stars doubled their lead with 26 minutes to play.
Emily Conyer crossed a ball across the box, and Aizlinn Baxter was there to score the insurance goal the Stars needed.
"We had switched her position in the second half because she has a nose for the ball," Steimel said of Baxter. "She works really hard, she has a great attitude and she has a knack for scoring."
Lebanon travels to Covenant Christian on Thursday.
The Tigers are looking for a chance to turn things around.
"We have to get back to the way we played in the first game of our tournament," Parsons said. "Some of our team dynamic has changed and we have to figure it out."
Western Boone travels to Danville on Thursday, looking for their fourth-straight win.
"We will watch some film and we know their are a couple of things they really like to do offensively," Steimel said. "One thing they like to do is control the midfield, so we really have to work on that."
Will Willems is the Sports Editor of the Lebanon Reporter. Follow him on Twitter @Will_Willems.
