Less than 48 hours after suffering a 5-0 defeat at Kickapoo, Republic’s girls soccer team delivered its response. The Lady Tigers shut out Rock Bridge 2-0 at home Saturday, handing the Bruins just their third loss of the season and improving to 12-6 on the season.
Macey Mitchell scored both Republic goals in the first half, despite the Lady Tigers playing into a stiff wind that was gusting over 25 mph. Mitchell finished a corner kick delivered by Cadence Lugar for the first score, then converted a penalty kick with 3:06 left in the half after Lugar was fouled on a breakaway.
The Lady Tigers planned to weather the first half with a headwind, hoping to stay even for a second-half surge with the wind at their backs. Instead, they scored twice with the wind in their faces. “Not what we were expecting. I think we were just trying to keep out of our defensive half,” Mitchell said. “When we got that corner, we were like, ‘Okay, this is a good opportunity. Let’s try to put it in the back of the net.’ And ultimately we did.”
Rock Bridge entered the contest with an 11-2 record but couldn’t solve Republic’s defense. Goalkeeper Awbree Berning made several critical saves, including a diving stop in the first half and an acrobatic kick save with her left leg midway through the second half. The shutout was Republic’s ninth this year and sixth in their last seven games.
Defender Bria Claxton said the team’s approach was straightforward after Thursday’s disappointing loss.
“We all just really wanted to get that win back after a hard loss on Thursday,” Claxton said. “First half, for 40 minutes, we all said we’re going to kick it out every single time. Once we got the PK, we knew we had to just lock it down, and we did really good after that.”
Republic’s second-half defense withstood several Rock Bridge opportunities, including a free kick that missed just wide with about 14 minutes remaining.
“I think it was a good confidence booster for us to come out and just be able to get two goals and then just keep that lead really well,” Mitchell said. “As a team, we played really cohesively, and I think that was really important for us to see — that we can work together to get that win.”
Republic plays an important Central Ozark Conference West Division Match at Willard on Monday.
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