Scoring opportunities were in short supply for the Great Bend High School girls’ soccer team on Monday.
Hays won the Western Athletic Conference tilt 3-2 at Cavanaugh field.
The Lady Indians outshot Great Bend 17-3 in the game.
Injuries are still plaguing the Lady Panthers, as Great Bend head coach Gus Prieto said that he had to start four junior varsity players against the Lady Indians.
“We’re having more injury troubles,” Prieto said. “We had another injury today. Sandy (Hernandez) is hurt. It’s too much. We played like four JV players today. We fight.”
Hernandez was taken to the hospital to have her leg checked out.
The Lady Panthers led early after Berenice Prieto fed a pass to Christina Hernandez, who returned the give-and-go to Berenice Prieto.
She buried a shot high in the net to give Great Bend a 1-0 lead.
“Well, I think we started well,” Gus Prieto said. “We knew how they played. We knew they were aggressive. We tried to control the ball a little more. Berenice’s goal was a good goal. We got the ball from midfield.”
The Lady Indians didn’t let the lead sit long. Shelby Dinkel scored the tying goal for Hays.
Minutes later, Michele Linville drilled in a goal to give the Lady Indians a 2-1 advantage before the end of the first half.
The second half was scoreless before the 15:56 mark when Taylor Herman scored for a 3-1 Hays lead.
The Lady Indians needed the insurance goal.
Morgan Harwood received a pass from Kenzie Sinclair on the right side of the Hays goalie’s box. She beat two defenders and buried a shot in the top-left corner of the goal.
“In the first half, I told my team that the midfielders need to help out the forwards,” Gus Prieto said. “When the left forward has the ball, the right midfielder needs to move up to the backside and be ready for the pass. That is exactly what Morgan did. It was a nice goal.”
Great Bend, which is 2-6-2 overall, 1-5-1 in the WAC, travels to Dodge City on Thursday for another WAC game. Friday night, the Lady Panthers host Salina South.