Wildcats nip Jags in marathon match

When Blue Springs’ Katelyn Wakefield found the corner of the net in a sudden-death shootout against crosstown rival Blue Springs South, Wildcats coach Doug McLagan suddenly saw the face of Jordan Ireland, a former team manager and junior varsity player who passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer.

The Wildcats claimed a 2-1, sudden-death shootout victory Thursday night at South in the Cancer Battler Cup III, an annual benefit that helps raise funds and awareness through the Jennifer Ireland Foundation.

“I saw Jenn, and she was smiling,” McLagan said, battling his emotions a bit. “I’m sure most of the girls on the team really didn’t know Jenn, but they know how special tonight is because we’re raising money, we’re raising cancer awareness and for me personally, it brings back some great memories.”

It took two sensational saves by Blue Springs goalkeeper Alyssa Scholl and Wakefield’s sudden-death kick to end a marathon night of soccer that lasted nearly three hours.

“The crossbar was my best friend tonight,” joked Scholl, as three Jaguar shots bounced off the crossbar in regulation play. “Then, (in the shootout) I was able to guess right a couple of times and stop their shots. You’re not supposed to stop shots in a shootout – I guess I was lucky.”

Blue Springs’ Brittany AuBuchon scored the first shootout goal, but teammate Lindsey Davis then hit her shot over the net.

Jordan McNamara scored for the Jaguars, but Scholl blocked a shot by Kelly Voigt, making it 1-1.

Beka Lowery and Gabi Severns scored for Blue Springs, and Beth Landon and Emily Griffin scored for the Jaguars, to make it 3-all.

Scholl then fired a shot over the net, but she rebounded and blocked a shot by Alexis Shuker, sending the shootout into sudden death.

“Coach asked me if I’d like to try to score, and I told him sure,” Scholl said. “I was really determined to stop the next shot after I missed my shot.”

Wakefield then scored on the first sudden-death kick and South’s Erica Mason fired her kick over the net, to set off a wild celebration in the middle of the field where the Wildcats were watching the action.

“I didn’t think it was ever going to end,” said Scholl, who was mobbed by her teammates. “This is a great win on a great night. It’s pretty special.”

McLagan agreed, but said, “I’d trade this one for a win Monday.”

The two teams hook up again at 4:30 p.m. Monday in district action at Raytown High School. Blue Springs finishes the regular season with a 7-10-1 overall record and 3-7 conference mark while the Jaguars are 5-15 and 0-10.

“We had two close matches with them this year,” South coach Todd Findley said, referring to an earlier 2-1 loss to the Wildcats. “We came so close tonight. How many times did we hit the crossbar? I really thought we dominated most of the game, but that doesn’t matter. It was a classic match on a night that was special because we were able to raise cancer awareness.

“We had a great crowd, Sporting Kansas City’s Kei Kamara was here and all the girls were excited to meet him and we had a great crowd. Maybe we can get them Monday.”

Griffin scored at 23:13 of the first half to give South a short-lived 1-0 lead in regulation. Severns then knotted the score at 1-all at the 33 minute mark.

Wakefield was not available to comment on her game-winning kick because she left the field immediatley after the game to get home because she had a test early this morning.