​Eagles get redemption following a 4-0 win over Wildcats

by Michael Smith


     The Grain Valley girls soccer team offense is continuing to roll.
     In their 10 games prior to Tuesday’s non-conference contest against Blue Springs at home, the Eagles averaged 5.5 goals per game.
     Their offensive barrage continued against the Wildcats as they were led by junior midfielder Emma Thiessen led the team with two goals in a 4-0 victory.
     The loss was redemption for the Eagles, who lost to Blue Springs 3-2 in the first round of the playoffs in 2022.
     “We really had a chip on our shoulder and wanted to beat them,” Grain Valley junior Annabelle Totta said.
     Grain Valley (12-4) got an early goal in the second minute when Thiessen scored on a counterattack as she floated a shot over goalkeeper Mady Cates, who came out to challenge. For the rest of the first half, the Eagles controlled possession but had issues with giveaways and connecting passes in Blue Springs’ third of the field.
     “I changed the formation a little bit and added a little bit more players in the midfield to help keep possession,” Grain Valley head coach Brett Lewis said. “That helped spring the attack forward, as well. I also thought the girls turned up their intensity level in the second half.”
     Things went much better for the Eagles in the second half as they scored three goals in the final 40 minutes. In the 43rd minute, Totta received the ball from a teammate at the top of the 18-yard box. She dribbled inside the box, zig zagged around two defenders, blasted a shot off the bottom of the crossbar and it bounced off the ground and into the net to give Grain Valley a 2-0 lead.
     “I was kind of already going, so I was like, I can’t lose it now,” Totta said. “I went as far as I could to get closer to the goal. I kind of got lucky with that shot to get it over the keeper.”
     Moments later, Thiessen and freshman Radleigh Childers connected on an equally impressive goal as Totta’s. Childers dribbled the ball along the right sideline. With a Blue Springs defender right by her, she fell down, but quickly sprung back up and blasted a long pass toward the left post of the Wildcats’ goal. Thiessen made a run toward the goal from the left side of the penalty box and booted the ball in mid air and into the net for a 3-0 advantage.
     “It was a great play that she dialed up,” Thiessen said of the pass from Childers. “With her dribbling down the sideline, I knew I had to be in the box for the cross. The ball just came to me, and I had to have the control and composure to be in front of the goal and finish it.”
     Late in the second half, Grain Valley put the game away when junior Meghan Knust sent a corner kick right in front of the Blue Springs goal line and sophomore midfielder Ally Gilbert punched in a close-range shot to put the exclamation point on the win.
     On defense, the Grain Valley back line and goalkeeper Alayna Maybell stymied the Blue Springs attack as the freshman goalkeeper made six saves. The back line helped limit Blue Springs shot and it got the game ball following the victory.
     “She’s grown from being a field player and being a goalkeeper,” Thiessen said. “It’s huge that we have her and that she’s stepped up to be our goalie. She’s working at it. You can tell.”
 

From left, freshman goalkeeper Alayna Maybell had six saves, junior Emma Thiessen had two goals and junior Annabelle Totta scored a goal as the trio played a big party in Grain Valley's 4-0 win over Blue Springs Tuesday at home. Photo credit: Michael Smith