Perfect Tigers shift focus to district

KANSAS CITY — The Smith-Cotton Lady Tigers soccer team used its familiar formula, quick scoring and tough defense, to record a historic win on Tuesday night.

The Lady Tigers finished a perfect 10-0 season in the West Central Conference with a 3-0 win over the O’Hara Celtics.

“It’s a good accomplishment for them, but I think everybody on the team has their eyes on a bigger prize, as well as the coaching staff,” S-C coach Shawn Cairer said. “We want more out of the season than just the conference, and that’s what we’re really working for, that district.”

Claire Waldo got Smith-Cotton (20-4) rolling early. She took a pass from Alicia Dunkin just 1:30 into the game and found the back of the net.

“We came out intense for the first time in a few games,” Cairer said. “I don’t know if it helped us because we came out good just like I want us to and we got a goal right away, but we kind of dropped off. We got kind of lackadaisical that last 20 minutes.”

Waldo made it 2-0 midway through the opening half, blasting a crossing pass that bounced off an O’Hara defender and into the goal.

With the 2-0 lead, the Smith-Cotton defense asserted itself in front of goalkeeper Cristian Sharp.

The Lady Tigers’ defense countered the physical play of the Celtics by not allowing many good looks at the goal.

“This is my third year here, and this is the most physical team that we’ve had, which is good,” said Cairer. “It keeps other people off their games and gets in their heads a little bit.”

Smith-Cotton extended its lead in the second half, getting a goal from Kristi Miller near the midway point. Miller put away a pass from Ceci Perez to give the Lady Tigers some insurance.

Cairer was pleased with the play of his whole team, especially the balance in scoring that it has shown in recent games.

“We’ve got Kristi and Claire that got goals today and over the weekend as well,” Cairer said.

“We’ve got a lot of different people that have scored on the team. It definitely helps. I think they are all capable of it. ... It gives us some confidence,” Cairer said.

The Lady Tigers will host the Class 2, District 10, tournament, which begins Saturday with two first-round games.

Smith-Cotton, the second seed, has a bye in the first round and will play the winner of the Hickman-Rock Bridge game at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Susie Ditzfeld Field.