McPHERSON, Kan. – After a 1-0 win against Rose Hill on Thursday, the McPherson High Girls Soccer team returned to the pitch on Monday, to battle Topeka Hayden, where they were able to claim their second-straight 1-0 win.
The Bullpups put five shots on goal, but Ellie Bower was the one that found the back of the net in the first half.
“I thought the first thirty-five minutes of the game we played really well.” said Head Coach Chris Adrian, who mentioned it being the best soccer of the season before fatigue hit. “The whole second half we were just hanging on and surviving.” he added, “Topeka is a really good team, they’ve got a ton of pedigree and a ton of postseason success.”
Ella Buschbom made three saves for her fourth shutout of the season, and after another gutsy one-goal win, Adrian believes the tight games will only help his team as they approach the most challenging portion of their regular season schedule.
“The experience you gain from these games is so much more valuable than what you get winning a game five to zero,” Adrian said. “When I first started coaching, our schedule wasn’t nearly as tough. We’d always get into the postseason and then we’d face one of these situations for the first time, and our team would kind of shy away from the moment and didn’t know what to do because they didn’t have that experience to fall back on.”
He said, “That’s one thing we’ve changed over the last four years. We try to play the best teams we can and Topeka Hayden is one of the best teams we’re going to see all year.”
Following the win the Pups move to 6-1 overall, and extend their winning-streak to five games. On Friday, the Bullpups will return to action at McPherson High School to face another stiff opponent when they host Goddard-Eisenhower.
