For the third year in a row, the Lady Tigers met underdog Hillcrest in the district semifinals. This time, fueled by the outstanding play of freshmen Madi Mitchell and Anna Jones, Republic avoided the upset in a 4-2 victory.
Mitchell scored two goals and added an assist, while Jones had a goal and an assist. Emily Jordan had a goal and two assists, as well. Hillcrest’s two goals — one in the first half and one in the second half — were both actually the result of “own goals” by Republic, when Lady Tiger defenders accidentally deflected the ball into the net.
In two previous district meetings, Hillcrest had escaped with two wins. In 2014, the Hornets spoiled Republic’s first-ever district #1 seed with a 3-2 overtime upset. Last year, Hillcrest scored two early goals and held on to beat a Republic team that had won 17 games during the regular season.
This year, Republic jumped on top first. Mitchell fed Jordan for the first goal in the 13th minute of the first half, finding her open about ten yards outside the goal. Jordan finished to make the score 1-0.
A few minutes later, Hillcrest scored an own goal when the ball deflected off a Republic defender, tying the score. It stayed that way until the final minute of the half, when Mitchell and Jones teamed up. Jones beat her defender around the 20-yard line, slide the ball to the right and hit Mitchell in stride. Mitchell booted the ball into the right side of the net to put Republic back on top.
“I think it was a big confidence booster for us going into half after the own goal,” Mitchell says. “We needed something like that to keep our heads up and be able to play the second half strong.”
“I’m really proud of the freshmen tonight,” says coach Kevin Hauck. “Madi and Anna have had a lot of opportunities throughout the season. They’ve been around the goal. Tonight they were able to finish, and that’s really big for us, especially in big games. It makes me happy to see them be able to come out like this in a big game and finish for us.”
In the second half, Hauck made an adjustment put more pressure on Hillcrest’s defensive backs, playing Jordan higher and allowing her to create offensive opportunities for Emily Griffith and Mitchell.
“We really were getting beat in the middle of the field a lot in the first half. I thought we were kind of timid,” Hauck says. “Second half, we were more aggressive. Griff and Madi, they’re really starting to work off EJ really well. Those three together, they’re pretty tough up top. They do a great job of communicating and putting pressure on the defensive backs.”
Both of Republic’s second-half goals came on corner kicks by Jordan. The first belonged to Jones, who took the ball on a high hop in the middle of the box, settled it, and turned to kick it home.
The final Republic goal of the game was Mitchell’s second. She took a perfect corner approach from Jordan and headed it past the Hillcrest keeper to make the score 4-1. Mitchell says even after a game like Tuesday’s, she and Jones don’t dwell on the fact that they’re freshmen.
“I don’t think age really matters. I think we’re all just trying to play hard and have fun and score,” Mitchell says.
Hillcrest scored one more goal late — again on an own goal by Republic — to account for the final margin.
Republic is now 15-7. The Lady Tigers advance to the district championship game, scheduled for Thursday at 6 pm. It’s tentatively set to be played in Willard, but if wet weather conditions continue, the game could be moved to the artificial turf in Branson.