The Lady Cadets Soccer team hosted the Southmont Lady Mounties for their eleventh game of the season. Coming into tonight’s game, the Lady Cadets’ record on the season stands at 4-5-1 and the Lady Mounties’ record stands at 6-5-1. Last season, Southmont defeated Cascade 1-0 in the regular season but the Cadets defeated Southmont 3-0 in the IHSAA Sectional competition. The Lady Cadets and Lady Mounties have been an intense rivalry over the past two seasons. Southmont defeated the upstart Cadets on their home field in the 2020 Sectional championship game and Cascade returned the favor the next season by knocking Southmont out of the Sectionals on their home field. Southmont plays in the Sagamore Conference which includes multiple 2A teams and losses with a tougher conference schedule have skewed the talent for which Southmont has possessed over the past couple seasons. With the Cadets improving their success over the past seasons, this girls soccer matchup has become a predictor of post season success. The 2022 meeting of this rivalry saw both teams struggling to find a consistent pattern of play while still looking ahead to the Sectionals starting in two weeks. The Cadets took the lead against Southmont with an excellent series of plays put together by Ainsley Engel, Anna Burns, Creedance Chittenden, and Grace Trump. Grace Trump gets credit for the goal but it was the quick offensive decisions that Ainsley, Anna, and Creedance made to help set up the break away goal for the Cadets. After Ainsley won the ball back, she made a good heads up pass to Anna Burns in an attacking position just above the Southmont defense. As the Southmont defenders moved to close out on the ball, Anna noticed Creedance Chittenden in the middle of the field with open space to move. Anna’s pass to Creedance was not as clean as she had hoped and this changed how Creedance needed to react to the incoming pass. Creedance used her body to shield the ball from the nearby defender and found a way to make an ankle touch on the ball right to Grace Trump’s foot. When Grace received the ball, she made a clean, powerful dribble that helped her create some space between herself, the defense, and the goalie. In one perfect motion, Grace struck the ball past the Southmont goalie for her 7th goal of the season and Creedance was recognized with her third assist. The Cadets held the lead for the rest of the first half with strong defensive play that prevented Southmont from developing good scoring opportunities. The second goal for the Cadets came from the smart offensive play of Anna Burns and Mallory Laughlin as these two girls paired up on a corner kick to surprise the Lady Mounties with an unexpected clean shot on goal. As the Lady Cades set up for a corner kick about half way through the second half, Anna found Mallory wide open at the top corner of the penalty box with a clear angle onto the Southmont goal. Mallory’s quick touch help her get balance and power into the soccer ball and it streaked toward the Southmont goal. An unsuspecting player for the Mounties did try to block the shot but her effort failed and Mallory scored her first goal of the season on the assist from Anna Burns. The second Cadet goal at 25:12 helped energize the Cadets, who now had a two goal lead, and this energy boost created the third goal of the game for the Cadets when Grace Trump scored her second amazing goal of the game. When the Cadets won the ball back deep in the Mounties half of the field, Anna Burns looked into the center of the field for any open teammates. Grace Trump raised her hand signaling that she was getting ready for a pass and Anna placed a perfect pass just in front of Grace. Grace Trump completely surprised the entire defensive unit with her aggressive run and Grace was able to redirect the ball into the back of the net with her chest for her second goal of the game. This third goal of the game completely deflated the exhausted Southmont and they only managed to build a couple of offensive attacks in the last 20:00 of the game. The game ended with a 3-0 win for the Lady Cadets. With the win, the Lady Cadets record improves back to .500 at 5-5-1 and the Lady Mounties are now 6-6-1. The next game for the Cadets will be on Wednesday, September 21st when they travel to Brazil, Indiana to play the Lady Knights of Northview High School. The game is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. and is part of a boy/girl doubleheader. Game Summary Cascade 1 - 2 3 Southmont 0 - 0 0 Goals: 1H 16:10 Grace Trump (7) (Assist by Creedance Chittenden (2)) 2H 25:12 Mallory Laughlin (1) (Assist by Anna Burns (3)) 2H 23:19 Grace Trump (8) (Assist by Anna Burns(4))