The beautiful game wasn’t so beautiful on March 26, but the Park Hill girls soccer team persevered to earn its first victory of the season in their 2-0 road triumph against North Kansas City.
The conditions were far from ideal, with the temperature quickly dropping and winds picking up to just shy of 40 miles per hour. Mixed in with a surface made of tall, thick grass, which the current group of Trojans had only played on once before.
While the Trojans are more accustomed to artificial turf, which the overwhelming majority of high school fields have become, Park Hill dealt with the conditions well after a few adjustments.
“Really tough conditions and a howling wind,” Park Hill head coach Jason Pendleton said. “It’s always tough when you play here on the grass because we’re not used to playing on short grass, let alone longer, bumpy grass. This place is always really tough to play.”
Hoping to get a goal quickly, that is exactly what the Trojans got after an early move forward resulted in a corner kick. With sophomore defender Kiley Cato advancing forward to take the corner kick, her inswinging delivery quickly turned into a desperate scramble inside the six-yard box.
After incoming shots and outgoing clearances were blocked, Alyssa Estanich eventually found herself with the ball at the back post. This time, just 55 seconds into the contest, there was no question as she knocked the ball over the line with her right foot from a short distance.
Alyssa Estanich watches after scoring Park Hill’s opening goal against North Kansas City on March 26.
Park Hill remained the dominant side with the wind at their backs, but forward moves became less fruitful. The Trojans had some chances from the run of play and set pieces, but nothing troubled the Northtown goalkeeper.
After both teams switched sides for the second half, Park Hill was forced to play into the increasingly powerful wind. That wind may have assisted in keeping Northtown off the scoresheet nine minutes into the second half, when a Hornet attack down the right side concluded with a shot rising just over the frame.
Both Park Hill goals came from corner kicks delivered by sophomore defender Kiley Cato.
The Trojans found their footing in the second half and eventually made it 2-0 from another corner kick. Again, Cato delivered an inswinging ball with her left foot, and this time Jovie Lavin met it with her head, directing the ball downwards and overpowering the Northtown defender’s best effort to keep it out.
“We pride ourselves in trying to be good from set pieces,” Pendleton said. “We spend a lot of time preparing both offensively and defensively, so it’s good to get some results off those today.”
With an extra cushion ahead 2-0, Park Hill went searching for the knockout punch. They found some success down the flanks with Gabrielle Gernigin and Maryn Hudson among those to rip shots at the goal.
While those attempts were unsuccessful, Park Hill was successful in closing out their first shutout of the season as returning sophomore goalkeeper Elise Zeller played the first 65 minutes before freshman Lyra Stout finished off the final 15 minutes. Neither Trojan keeper had much action to do as Park Hill outshot Northtown 13-3.
It was an important bounce-back win after an emotional week following the tragic passing of classmate Tessa Walker, who was a close friend to numerous members of the soccer team.
“It’s been tough emotionally,” Pendleton said. “It’s been a very tough emotional toll on some of them. I think this has been a bit of a distraction at times, so that’s been a positive of being able to come out here. It’s just been a very tough week for the whole school in general.”
Park Hill players were seen with white tape around their wrists with messages honoring Walker. They will continue honoring their late classmate throughout the season.
Park Hill had opened the season with a defeat in a penalty shootout on March 24 against Liberty North. After visiting Olathe West on March 31, the Trojans will host Pembroke Hill for their home opener on April 2.