Thursday’s game at Cavanaugh Soccer Fields against Dodge City High School marked the final chance for the Great Bend Lady Panthers to get a Western Athletic Conference win this season.
Unfortunately, the Lady Red Demons took charge of the game early, scoring three goals in each half to win 6-1.
The Lady Panthers fall to 0-11 overall, 0-8 in WAC play.
Great Bend couldn’t overcome several injuries that have put inexperienced players in positions that they haven’t played before.
“The main problem with us is we don’t have a keeper,” Great Bend head coach Gus Prieto said. “I have to bring other players from other positions. In the first half, I had to put Selena Fletcher, that’s a freshman, at keeper. She’s never played there before.
“I used to have Jessica Loera in the first half, and Karina Galvan in the second half. They usually play center midfielder. Jessica didn’t play today. She’s hurt.”
Fletcher gave up three goals, but Prieto said that his team did show a spark on offense.
“They scored three goals in the first half on Selena,” Prieto said. “In the first 10 minutes, we pressured them pretty good. We kept them on their side of the field pretty well, but we just had bad luck. We couldn’t score.”
Summer Bates was able to break through for a Lady Panthers goal as Great Bend trailed 3-1 at halftime.
“Summer scored our goal in the first half, too,” Prieto said. “Karina passed the ball to Kenzie (Sinclair). Kenzie passed it to Summer, and Summer put it in.”
Prieto said that while he is seeing improvement, his team has a long way to go.
“The first half, we starting really good,” Prieto said. “But like I said last time, we’re playing with a young team. It is hard to play against an experienced team with a lot of seniors. It is hard, but we’re competing with them.”
Great Bend travels to Salina South today. The junior varsity game starts at 4 p.m. with the varsity following.