(HCC Sports Information)
COFFEYVILLE – The “Three-Peat” is complete for the No. 5-ranked Hutchinson Community College women’s soccer team.
Thursday’s 14-0 dismantling of Coffeyville in the 2011 regular-season finale capped a third-straight Jayhawk Conference championship season for the Lady Dragons (14-2, 11-1 Jayhawk Conference).
After winning outright conference titles in 2009 and 2010, the Lady Dragons own a share of the 2011 championship with Butler. Both teams finished with identical 11-1 league records. HCC defeated Butler 2-1 on Oct. 9 at the USD 308 Athletic Complex.
“This is truly a credit to the girls,” said HCC head coach Sammy Lane, whose team will play Dodge City (7-10) at 4 p.m. on Monday in the opening round of the Region VI Tournament at the USD 308 Athletic Complex. “For them, it’s a phenomenal achievement. It’s pleasing and disappointing for me because the paperwork snafu cost us three outright titles, which at any level is hard to do.”
Lane was referring two the two victories the Lady Dragons had to forfeit to Allen and Hesston because of the use of an ineligible player in those games. But after the forfeits, the Lady Dragons knew they had to run the table to claim at least a share of the title and did so by winning 11 straight games.
“The forfeits bonded us,” sophomore Rebekah Ramstack said. “We knew we had to win them all, so we did. We take great pride in our winning streak. I’m really excited to be a part of this. It’s a big accomplishment.”
“Our goal was always to win the conference,” sophomore Logan Shupe said. “After we knew we had to win every game, it did bring us closer together. Now our ultimate goal is to go to nationals.”
Playing on the fast FieldTurf of Veteran’s Memorial Stadium in Thursday, the Lady Dragons closed the regular season with a flourish scoring a season-high 14 goals, which ties for the fifth most in team history. The Lady Dragons broke a team record with 14 assists and the 42 team points were the fifth most scored in team history.
Freshman Melissa Hetherington had her third career game of 10 or more points with four goals and a career-high three assists for 11 points. Hetherington now has a single-season record 32 goals and 13 assists for 77 points, already a single-season record and is tied for sixth on the career chart.
Career assist leader Alicia Robinson added four more helpers to up her career record to 39 and her NJCAA-leading season total to 24 assists.
Sophomore Pearl Slattery became the sixth HCC player in team history to tally 20 goals in a season with a two-goal game.
Freshman Nicole Cronin and sophomores Ashley Burnett and Madison Joyce all scored two goals in the game. Freshman Shelbi Otte had a goal and an assist. Sophomore Brenna Kleman had a career-high two assists, while sophomore Polly New scored a goal. Ramstack, Shupe and freshman Chloe Basnett and Isa Whitley all had assists.
“It’s one of our better performances on turf,” Lane said. “This is a fast turf, so I was really pleased with how we played. Not too often I leave happy after playing on turf. We played high quality soccer.”
The Lady Dragons out-shot Coffeyville 46-0, putting 26 shots on goal. It’s the third time this season and the 15th in team history that Hutchinson has held a team without a single shot.
The Lady Dragons led 5-0 at halftime and scored nine goals in the second half. That tied for the fourth-most goals scored in a half in team history.
“Since the moment they got here, they bought in to everything,” Lane said. “It’s a tough environment to play here, but these girls have embraced everything and they’ve taken ownership of this program.
“Every time they played, they answered the call. It’s hard to get that in a group, but they have great pride in themselves and their school to uphold this winning tradition that we’ve developed. They are a proud bunch of kids and we won’t go down this year without a fight.”
GAME NOTES – Career records update: Points – Alicia Robinson, 4th (83); Pearl Slattery, 5th (82); Melissa Hetherington, tied sixth (77); Madison Joyce, 9th (69). Goals – Hetherington, 4th (32); Slattery, 5th (29); Joyce, 6th (26). Assists – Robinson, 1st (39). … Single-season records update: Points – Hetherington, 1st (77); Slattery, tied 4th (52); Robinson, 7th (44); Joyce, 9th (42). Goals – Hetherington, 1st (32); Slattery, 6th (20); Joyce, tied 9th (15). …Hetherington had her fourth game-winning goal of the season. … Goalkeeper Eunice Figueroa won her 11th game with is third on the single-season list and fifth on the career list. … Now 8-1 vs. Coffeyville, winning the last five in a row by a combined score of 36-0. … The 14-goal victory tied for the fourth-largest margin of victory in team history. … The 2011 Lady Dragons are now third in team history in goals scored (117), second in assists (96) and third in points (330).