The defending Missouri Class 3 State Champions faced off with the Mehlville Panthers looking for a three-game win streak, at home, April 21.

Under the threat of rain, it was the Wildcats that were able to rain down three goals in a victory, 3-0.

After a quiet first 35 minutes, the Wildcats threw three shots on goal with five minutes remaining in the first half but couldn’t break the scoreless tie.

“You just gotta keep shooting,” Mr. Gary Schneider, head coach, said. “At some point the shots are going to go in.”

The Wildcats went to half tied up and looking for an advantage.

“We were trying to pick up our intensity,” Coach Schneider said. “They were taking the game to us, and we needed to turn that around.”

The first eight minutes of the second half looked similar to the first until Ella Burrows, defense, put a shot in the back of the net from outside the box to draw first blood.

“I was calling for the ball since I was wide open,” Burrows said. “I got the back pass, and I just kind of floated it over everyone.”

Just a minute and-a-half later Abby Pulliam, midfield, dribbled down the far side of the field, firing a shot across the field into the top shelf on the opposite side of the net.

“Abby’s fast,” Coach Schneider said. “Other teams can’t keep up with her.”

Nine minutes later, Elena Bloma, forward, corralled a loose ball in front of the net and pounded the shot past the Mehlville goaltender.

“The girl she was defending was just bobbling the ball a lot,” Burrows said. “Elena went strait through her.”

In the stretch from 31:34 to 20:43 in the second half, the Wildcats scored all three of their goals and appeared to be the far-superior team.

“I think we just calmed down,” Coach Schneider said. “We stopped looking for the perfect shot and just started shooting.”

With the win the Wildcats improve to 3-0-0 in conference play and 5-3-0 overall. Their next game will be at Northwest, Thursday, April 24.