Panther girls move on

The Mt. Pleasant girls' soccer teams will live to fight another day.

The Panthers knocked out Southeast Conference rival Fairfield 2-1 on Thursday evening at East Lake Park to advance to the Class 3A Region 5 semifinals.

Sydney Doak scored both goals for Mt. Pleasant, both coming in the first half

Doak's first goal was a tap in after Mary West's shot banged off the right post and left a juicy rebound. That gave Mt. Pleasant a 1-0 lead with 33:43 remaining in the half.

Her second goal came off a long feed by Chloe Warner with 23:57 showing. Doak slipped past a couple of defenders and beat the Trojan goalkeeper to give Mt. Pleasant a 2-0 advantage.

'She's been outstanding this year,” said head coach Brennan Williams after the game. 'She has definitely been the game-changer for us. Obviously Mary is still scoring goals, but it's always great to have that two-headed monster attack. The first goal is just an effort goal, tapping it in off a shot of the post, but that second goal … I wish I had that on film. That's a highlight goal.”

The Panthers led 2-0 at halftime, but Fairfield wasn't going down without a fight. A handball in the box with 24:14 remaining in the game created a penalty kick for Bryanna Popejoy. She converted on the chance and cut the lead to 2-1.

'It's wonderful to play with that multiple goal lead, but it's also the most dangerous,” Coach Williams said. 'When they get that PK, then they know they're one off and we know they're one off. It creates even more tension.”

Fairfield had a handful of chances to tie the game up in the final 24 minutes, but the Panther defense stayed strong for the most part. The Trojans could never equalize the game and Mt. Pleasant eliminated their SEC rivals.

The win advanced Mt. Pleasant to play at No. 6 Pella on Tuesday, May 28. The winner of that game will take on either No. 10 Norwalk or Oskaloosa in the regional final.

The Panthers were eliminated in the regional final last year in Pella. The Lady Dutch have only lost two games all year, but that's just two less than the Panthers, who are now riding a three-game winning streak.

'It's kind of one that we weren't too upset to see, really,” Coach Williams said. 'We know we're going to have to go through a team like that, and we've shown in the past couple of years that we're showing great strides. We know now that we can contend with a team like that, and I told the girls that I expect us to do so.”