Girls fall in 1-0 heartbreaker to HTC

The Trojan girls? soccer season ended on an overtime goal from Holy Trinity Catholic?s Abby Boeding, as the team fell 1-0 in the Class 1A Region 8 semifinal.

Fairfield climbed back into the final rankings for the season, ending the year at No. 15 in the class. Holy Trinity was ranked 12th going into the contest. The Crusaders advance to face No. 2 Iowa City Regina tonight for the chance to go to the state title.

?It was just great placement by Holy Trinity,? said Fairfield head coach Mandy Mellum. ?They were attacking our left side and a player was high on the box in the center. They passed it to her and she one-touched it with a perfectly placed ground shot on the far end of the goal. Our defense didn?t have the opportunity to react since it happened so quickly.

?We had a couple of good attacks, our defense stayed compact and it was just a great game.?

The Trojans end the season at 13-4 overall in Mellum?s first year as a head coach for the program.

?We had a great season overall and I?m excited because the girls are interested in playing this summer at the Iowa games,? said Mellum ?I love that we will improve in the offseason! It?s hard to lose the seniors we are losing, but next year will be a good season as well.?

Captain and goalkeeper Sierra Vogt ends her senior season with over 100 saves and allowed only 19 goals on the year, a 1.12 average in her swansong season.

Midfielder Courtney Gilmore ends her senior season leading the Trojans with six assists. She also scored 11 goals and 28 assists, good for third on the team.

Senior defenders who will graduate include Ntando Dube, Kaley Ives and Katie Bell. Dube and Ives don?t have any statistics on paper, but Bell also shifted to some offensive play for the Trojans and netted two goals and three assists on the scoresheet. The senior-led defense, along with juniors Mikaela Lunsford and Shannon Morrissey among others, was 15th in the class in goals allowed with only 19.

The Trojans will return the team?s top two scorers next year in junior Emma Rosner (24 goals, five assists) and sophomore Kristin Burnstedt (17 goals, two assists). Alie Kensett, a sophomore who got some playing time at forward while Burnstedt was out with an injury, would be a projected option to replace Gilmore on the offensive side.