S-C girls soccer caps third consecutive unbeaten WCC season

Shot after shot, goal after goal, celebration after celebration, Smith-Cotton’s seniors relished every moment on Thursday at Susie Ditzfeld Memorial Field, knowing it would be their last in front of the same crowd of family, friends and classmates that had been their support system for the past four years.

With that in mind, the college-bound group of six made its exit in style.

Seniors Claire Waldo, Alicia Dunkin, Meagan Klein, Jessica Kinde and Brenda Zaragoza each scored, senior Cristian Sharp earned the shutout and the Lady Tigers won their third-straight West Central Conference championship in a 10-0, 40-minute win over Kansas City Center.

“It was great that we all got to end our season on a high note,” Sharp said. “Everyone scored and was involved in the win, and that’s how we wanted it.”

Followed up with a postgame ceremony highlighting their accomplishments, memories and hard-to-follow legacy, the win put a stamp on one of the most dominant athletic stretches the school has ever seen. The Lady Tigers stretched their West Central Conference winning streak to 30 games, including three consecutive perfect seasons. The seniors had trouble reflecting on the impressive stretch.

“It’s pretty awesome,” Klein said. “Looking back, it’s hard to be believe we’ve accomplished so much.”

Dunkin added, “Thirty games is a lot” as  Kinde chimed in with, “We’re just that good.”

If anybody can attest to that, it’s the Lady Yellowjackets after being outshot 35-0. From the whistle, the WCC foe’s shot at an upset was derailed as Kali Webb scored two goals in the opening four minutes. Five minutes later, Kinde got the seniors on the board with a header off a Jack Greer cross to stake the Lady Tigers to a 3-0 lead.

Less than a minute after Kinde’s goal, Waldo took the ball half the length of the field and juked defenders in the left side of the box, setting herself up for a right-footer that sailed just over the reach of goalkeeper Starjha Jones.

Not to be outdone by her fellow seniors, Dunkin followed with a point-blank goal in the 15th minute and Klein scored four minutes later to push the lead to 6-0.

Kelsey Webb followed with a well-placed goal inside the right post and Ali Mateja then served up back-to-back goals in the 24th and 30th minutes.

Up 9-0 and needing another goal to end the game at halftime, Zaragoza became the fifth and final senior to score on a perfectly placed cross from Tiffany Wehymeyer in the 33rd minute. Chants from the crowd pleading for Sharp to come up as a scoring option and cap off the senior streak ensued, but to no avail as Sharp would have to settle for the shutout.

With the perfect WCC season wrapped up and Senior Night in the books, the Lady Tigers will now shift their focus to districts. The third-seeded Lady Tigers will face sixth-seeded Grandview (4-14) in the opening round of Class 3, District 13 play at 1 p.m. Saturday in Peculiar. If Smith-Cotton wins, second-seeded host Raymore-Peculiar will await in the second round.

According to the seniors, anything short of a district title would be a disappointment for the program, which has gone without a district championship despite making it to the finals the last two seasons. They believe this is the year the drought ends.

“This our year, 2010.” Kinde said.

Appropriately, her teammates backed her up in unison, yelling, “What, 2010.”