Maryville girls soccer looks to ‘experiment’ in exhibition contests

CRAIG MCMULLEN Missourian Reporter | @NWMSports

Maryville girls soccer took a nearly 75-mile drive April 3-4 to Smithville, Missouri, for its first road matches of the 2023 season in the Smithville Round Robin Tournament.

The matches at Smithville High School were mid-season exhibition matches, so it didn’t count toward any of the participating teams’ regular season records. Assistant coach Courtney Kennedy said the early in-season exhibition matches allows the team to try new things on the field before going into the rest of the season.

“We were able to put players in different positions and experiment and see how they play,” Kennedy said.

Four high schools will compete or have competed in the tournament April 3-6. — Harrisonville from Class 2 District 6, Maryville from Class 2 District 8, Smithville from Class 3 District 8 and Staley from Class 4 District 8.

On the first day of matches, the Spoofhounds took on Staley. Unlike the last three regular season matches in Maryville, where the

Spoofhounds seemingly couldn’t stop scoring — to the tune of 22 goals in the team’s first three contests — it was the polar opposite in this match.

The Falcons were up 2-0 with nearly 22 minutes left in the match, and Maryville senior forward Halle Buck kicked the ball from the right wing close to the sideline. The wind helped the ball sail right into the back of the net to give the Spoofhounds their only goal of the match.

Following the goal by Buck, the Falcons put up two more goals — with 14:30 left in the match and then 1:30 left — to earn a 4-1 win in the first game of the tournament. Senior goalkeeper Abigail Swink said she has mixed feelings about the in-season tournament.

“A lot of times we play teams that have bigger schools and different looks on the game,” Swink said. “I like it because we get to see teams with different styles, and we can look back on these games to see how we can prepare better as we propel into the future.”

The Spoofhounds have one more exhibition match against Harrisonville April 6 in Smithville and will resume the reg- ular season schedule against Mid-Buchanan (4-1) April 10 at Bearcat Pitch. Swink said the team just needs to play calm and collective soccer.

“We have a younger team this year, and we need to just take it back and scan the field for available options because this is a game that doesn’t need to be rushed,” Swink said.

The Lady Dragons and the Spoofhounds have met twice since 2021, and the Spoofhounds won both times. The first match was a 6-0 win May 3, 2021, and the most recent match was a 2-1 win April 11, 2022. Kennedy said one of the

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