Two-Goal First Half Propels Zumwalt South By Zumwalt North

The Lady Bulldogs earned a Gateway Athletic North Conference victory over the Fort Zumwalt North Lady Panthers on Tuesdday behind a strong performance from sophomore midfielder Brooke Hendrix.

 Hendrix scored two of the Lady Bulldogs’ three goals in the 3-2 win at Zumwalt South.

“It’s pretty exciting, to be able to score two in a game for the first time,” Hendrix said.  

The sophomore has seven goals so far this season. Lady Bulldog coach Vernon Gano said the team tries to emphasize Hendrix’ speed.

“She can beat a lot of the girls on the field,” Gano said.  “With the amount of breakaways she’s had she should have 15 or 16 goals right now.”

Zumwalt South looked determined to control the contest from the beginning. The Lady Bulldogs had five shots on goal in the first 21 minutes of the game. Hendrix scored her first goal with 17 minutes left to play in the first half. Junior forward Kelsey Barkley added another goal with 2:59 left to play in the first half to make the score 2-0.

Gano said a new offensive formation, which places more players in the midfield, was also critical in the win.

“We’re trying different formations, we’re moving the girls around a bit,” he said. “I think it’s helping us keep possession a little more and gave us a little more confidence up front.”

North’s Amanda Wiechens had a strong game. She scored both of the Lady Panthers’ goals on penalty kicks. Wiechens leads the Lady Panthers’ offense with 19 goals. Her goal with 22:06 left to play in the second half made the score 2-1 Zumwalt South.

After the Lady Panthers’ first goal Zumwalt South challenged North and put two more shots on goal, one belonged to Hendrix. Hendrix struck again with 17:50 left to play to extend the Lady Bulldogs’ lead to two goals (3-1). Wiechens scored her second goal with 3:26 left to play. Wiechens said her placement of the kicks was important.

“Amanda is one of the better players in not only the conference but in the area,” Lady Panther head coach Eric Delabar said. “She does well for us. She’s a finisher and a hard worker and technically a very good player. She had a couple of nice shots.”

Delbar also said his team’s defense could have been stronger.

“I think the goals they had were mistakes on our part,” Delabar added. “I think we made simple mistakes and that gave them opportunities. It’s a game of opportunities. It’s whoever takes advantage of the opportunities. We fell a little short, it was a good game.”  

Zumwalt South improves to 11-12 overall and 2-2 in the GACN. Zumwalt North drops to 4-12 overall and 2-6 in the GACN.