Hazelwood West Soccer Holds Off Rival Hazelwood Central, 4-2

After two weeks of play during the 2011 season, the varsity girls soccer team owned a 2-4 record, and had endured several lopsided losses against some of its toughest opponents.

West head coach Jason Sellers admitted he was concerned, but he hadn’t quite reached a level of being worried about his team.

Sellers’ patience with the Wildcats has paid off the last two weeks, as West has gone from 4-2 to even its record at 6-6. The most recent win for the Wildcat girls soccer team came April 15, when West held off a strong second half charge from rival Hazelwood Central, to earn a convincing 4-2 victory.

“We knew once we fixed a few things and got some people back from injury, we’d start firing on all cylinders,” Sellers said. “We had to call some girls up from JV, we were playing a lot of people, but we got through it.”

West was off to a flying start against the visiting Hawks, scoring four first half goals during a brilliant 10-minute stretch, that turned a closely contested match into a blowout before the teams had even reached halftime.

“We certainly played well in the first half,” Sellers said. “That was one of the better halves we’ve played in a while.

"And the thing about the second half that I wasn’t too disappointed with was that we were still creating a lot of chances," he said. "We didn’t finish them all, but we were still creating chances.”  

Junior striker Mariah Gove was the star of the match for West. She played a hand in each of West’s first three scores, notching two goals and an assist, to help lead the Wildcats back to the .500 mark.

“She’s got a knack for putting the ball in the back of the net,” Sellers said. “It’s definitely benefited our program the last couple of years that’s for sure. We lean on her a lot.”

The scores were Gove’s ninth and tenth of the season, ranking her second in the Suburban North Conference, behind Pattonville’s Kailey Utley, in scoring.

Senior Julie Webb tallied West’s other score, after banging home teammate Hannah Auch's nifty setup pass.

“Julie’s finally healthy,” Sellers said. “And it was nice to see her get one in. Hopefully we can really start clicking. It’ll be better for everybody.”

West seemed to let up some in the second half though, allowing Central’s Aaliyah Smith and Caitlyn O’Brock to score goals that made the contest competitive again.

Goalkeeper Cassie McMillin led the Wildcat defence, which held strong the rest of the match, despite allowing two golden chances for Central that could’ve tied the score.

On one play, Central’s Tierra Dunning found herself staring at an open net with a chance to make the score 4-3, but the senior misfired on her shot allowing West to maintain its two-goal lead.

Central’s Smith had another point-blank chance a few moments later, but West’s McMillin managed to get a hand on Smith’s shot and kept it out of the back of the net.

“Cassie’s a perfect example (of West’s toughness and perseverance),” Sellers said. “She’s only played goal one other time this year, and this is her first year ever playing goal. She played great.”

West is 2-0 in league play, and will play its most important conference game of the season next Thursday, April 21, when it travels to Creve Couer to take on Pattonville, which is also 2-0 in Suburban North play.

The winner of Thursday’s showdown will gain the upperhand in the conference race, and most likely will win the league title, which West won last year and Pattonville won the three years prior to that.

West’s next home game is Tuesday, April 19, when the Wildcats will host the No. 3-ranked team in the area, Incarnate Word Academy, at Wildcat Field at 4 p.m.