​Lady Eagles Open Season Strong As Platte County Soccer Tournament Champions

by John Unrein

 
     The Grain Valley Lady Eagles soccer team has had an impressive first week of the season. Pleasant Hill, Kearney, and Staley all fell to the Lady Eagles during the Platte County Girls Soccer Tournament. Grain Valley outscored their opponents by a total of 12-3 during the week of March 22nd, winning the championship matchup against Staley by a score of 5-2 on March 26th.
     The Lady Eagles would put together a winning formula of turning on balls to gain offensive momentum, accurate passing, beating their opponent to most loose balls, and accurate shooting to secure the victory against Staley in the final game. An impressive feat considering the youth of Grain Valley’s roster. A fact not lost on Lady Eagles head soccer coach Tyler Nichol.
     “This has been a great start to the season for us. A little unexpected with the mix of veteran players along with starting five freshmen, but it has been huge for our confidence going forward,” Nichol said.
     “This group is very coachable. An example would be Meghan Knust in particular, as a holding midfielder, that is the starting point for our attack. She has been so confident on the ball, receiving it, turning, even under pressure to sneak through a defense and find our attacking players.”
     Nichol concluded, “The smiles on the faces of this team says a lot. Watching freshmen score goals, exhale, and get the nerves out to be able to say they can play at this level leaves us ready to attack the rest of the season.”
     Grain Valley narrowly held the advantage in shots on goal against Staley by a 15-14 margin. Center midfielder Raena Childers was impressive for the Lady Eagles in compiling a hat trick during the first half. Equally as impressive to the precision of the senior’s shots on net was the speed displayed in getting open and past Staley defenders. Childers put on full display the reason why she is verbally committed to play soccer at the University of Kansas next season.
     Childers was not selfish offensively either, an example being her smooth assist to freshman Emma Thiessen along the left wing that resulted in Thiessen’s shot finding the back of the net with 28:02 left to go in the second half. This would be Thiessen’s reward for sprinting pass the Staley defense while remaining onside before displaying nifty footwork to set up the kick on goal.
     Rounding out the Lady Eagles scoring would be freshman Kylee Bragaw. The opening goal of the game would come off Bragaw’s foot with 27:27 remaining in the first half. An accomplishment that would lead to a plethora of hugs from teammates at midfield prior to the resuming of play. Grain Valley seized that momentum and did not let up for the duration of the contest.
     “My teammates did a good job tonight opening space for me. I really respect them for that, especially with them being freshmen,” Childers said.
     Thiessen added, “I got really good passes and through balls from our center mids. My job is to make sure that I am not offsides to then create chances for our forwards. It was nice to get the pass for the tap in late in the game.”
     Bragaw finished, “We passed well tonight due to us getting wide. Raena (Childers) dribbled to get open and laid it off to me for the goal.”
     Childers and Thiessen were rewarded for their strong effort by Nichol in getting summoned to the bench with 4:08 remaining in the second half. Nichol would proudly receive the box of Soccer Tournament Champion t-shirts after the game. The Lady Eagles proudly donned them and posed for celebratory pictures before heading towards the bus.
     The Grain Valley Lady Eagles soccer team (3-0) will next face St. Michael the Archangel at home on March 29th.

Grain Valley Lady Eagles soccer team wins the Platte County Soccer Tournament.
​Photo credit: Valley News staff

Freshman Emma Thiessen passes the ball to an open teammate.
Photo credit: Valley News staff

Senior Raena Childers dribbles the ball successfully through the Staley defense.
Photo credit: Valley News staff
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