Fouch's Return to Forward Paying Dividends for Howell North

Senior forward Kelsey Fouch’s goal provided the Francis Howell North Lady Knights soccer team a little breathing room in Howell Central Spartans.

“It gave us a little insurance,” Fouch said on her goal. “We had trouble putting things together in the first half and the second goal really helped.”

The score was 0-0 throughout most of the Francis Howell North/Francis Howell Central contest. Sarah Peth’s goal with 10:28 left to play in the contest broke the tie. Fouch scored the second goal in the 2-0 win with 7:28 left to play. The Lady Knights improved to 7-2 with the victory.

“We’re improving,” Fouch said on the win. “We played better today. We’re possessing the ball in the midfield and using our backs to get the ball down the field.”

The senior said playing Howell Central “is tough competition.”

“Whenever we play our sister schools there’s a big rivalry there,” she said.    

The Lady Knights have compiled an impressive record so far and the senior wants to see her team succeed in the post-season.

“I really want to see us win the district this year,” she said. “And then we’ll see how far we can go after that.”

Fouch leads her team in scoring with six goals this spring but she hasn’t spent her whole varsity career playing up top. The senior started playing varsity as a freshman. She played forward as a freshman and then played defender her sophomore and junior year before returning to forward this season.

“It’s different moving to forward this year,” she said. “You have to learn to move off of the ball in a different way.”

Not a one-sport athlete, Fouch also plays basketball. She’ll continue her soccer career next year at Missouri State, a Division I school in Springfield.

“I just want to improve as a soccer player and play a lot,” she said on her upcoming college career.