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The U8 Hays Havoc Girls Soccer Team finished their 2023 spring season with a perfect 8-0 in league play.
The eight games were played across three Saturday’s down in Wichita.
First Weekend
League play kicked off on March 4th with a win as the Havoc upended FC Wichita 4-1.
The girls started slow as they had quite a few shots on goal but just could not convert.
Then forward Brynlee Bauck put two on the board, and the Havoc never looked back after that.
Hattie Simpson and Getse Cabrera-Ramirez also netted goals as the Havoc ceased control of the game.
Goalie Nyx Kaiser was almost flawless, stopping 9 of the 10 shots she faced.
Game #2 went just as well for the Havoc as they defeated McPherson FC by a score of 5-2. But the Havoc really had to work to earn this win.
The first half saw a score of 0-0, as it was a defensive battle early on. However, we would break through with goals from Simpson, Bauck and Cabrera-Ramirez to take a 3-0 lead.
The teams traded goals in the final minutes to finish out the game.
Defenders Samantha Schonthaler, Kersee Wince and Brynlee Hartshorn did a great job of playing their positions and keeping the opponent’s shots at bay.
Second Weekend
After a long layoff between weekends, the Havoc were finally back in action on April 1st.
The first game saw the Havoc overwhelm Sporting Wichita Silver and ultimately win by a final of 8-0.
Everything was clicking; offense, defense, and goalkeeping. Our forwards of Brynlee Bauck, Hattie Simpson, Getse Cabrera-Ramirez, twin sister Aly Cabrera-Ramirez, Hattie Enslow and Elena Gross were relentless in this game, and it would turn out to be a theme for the weekend. Goals by Bauck, Simpson and the Cabrera-Ramirez sisters and flawless goalkeeping by Kaiser put this game away early.
The 2nd game pitted us against MCFC and this outcome would be much of the same.
Bauck, Simpson, and the Cabrera-Ramirez sisters would not be denied in this one as they would combine for 9 goals in another terrific performance. Schonthaler, Wince, and Hartshorn would again be absolute walls on defense.
They know their positions and play them well. Kaiser would also only allow one goal in this one as the Havoc rolled to a 9-1 victory.
It was clearly going to be our weekend as Game 3 offered a very similar outcome as the first two contests.
We “wreaked havoc” up and down the field against Sporting Wichita Silver again for a full 40 minutes to earn an 8-1 victory. It was another great showing by the offense, defense, and goalkeeping.
This win would cap a 3-win weekend, outscoring our opponents 25-2, moving our league record to 5-0 heading into the last weekend of play.
The Final Weekend
The girls were really looking forward to this final weekend with the opportunity to finish the season undefeated.
It was not going to be easy as we were missing three players for this final weekend, but the seven we had were more than ready for the challenge.
FC Kansas Crusade was the first opponent of the weekend.
The girls came out focused from the get go as Simpson and Bauck combined for 5 goals.
The scoring did not stop there as just about everyone on the team scored a goal as we cruised to an 11-0 victory. Samantha Schonthaler netted two goals to go along with Hattie Enslow and Kersee Wince’s one goal apiece. Goalkeeper Nyx Kaiser even got in on the scoring action moving to forward mid-way through the game.
One down, two to go for an undefeated season.
The 2nd game proved to be a physical matchup as we battled against the Unicorns.
While some were busy trying to take cheap shots at our players, Bauck, Simpson and company were busy scoring the soccer ball.
Their “physical” play only fueled our fire more and we absolutely took it to them, winning by a score of 8-1.
Bauck and Simpson were able to net a combined 6 goals due to great defense and passing by our defenders and goalkeeping.
That has been a key to our success all season, and it turns out it would be vital in the final game for the chance to finish 8-0.
The 3rd and final game was a matchup against one of the two teams to play us close, FC Wichita.
The two teams played in the first game of league to a 4-1 game, but the game was closer than the score indicated.
It took a late scoring burst and some great goaltending for us to win the first matchup, and it was only fitting they were the team to stand in our way of a perfect season.
The first half saw some early fireworks as Bauck was able to connect on a one-timer to put the Havoc up 1-0. FC Wichita responded quickly with a goal of their own, but Simpson and Bauck responded with goals before half to give us a 3-1 lead heading into the 2nd half.
By this point, our seven girls had played 100 minutes through two and a half games. I knew this would be the most difficult 20 minutes of the season.
The beginning of the 2nd half did not start well as we gave up two goals in the first seven minutes, with one being on a questionable no-call from the official.
With the game tied 3-3 with ten minutes left, you really would not want it any other way. A back-and-forth battle for the next seven minutes saw very little opportunity for either team to score.
I did not want to see the final game of the season end in a draw. These girls had worked too dang hard for that. With under 3 minutes left, Simpson found some daylight up the far side of the field set up by a great pass from Wince.
With a defender running stride for stride with Simpson the whole way, she was able to create enough separation for a shot.
The shot rolled on the ground towards the goal, with the goalie moving towards it. She was in position to make the stop, but could not get her hands down on the ground quick enough, as the ball went between her legs and into the back of the net!
No time to celebrate yet (although there were a lot of smiles) as time was still on the clock.
Thanks to some more stellar defense the Havoc were able to hold off a last gasp chance to win the game 4-3. It was a fitting game to end the season.
I can’t say enough about this group of girls and what they accomplished this season.
Each one of them improved their game in some aspect, and that’s what it’s all about.
I’m extremely proud of them and look forward to the next season where we will move up to play 7 vs. 7.
They played like their team’s name suggested and wreaked havoc all season long.