The girls varsity soccer team defeated St. Teresa’s Academy in the MoKan tournament semifinals, 2-1. The team will advance to the championship April 4.

The first 32 minutes of the first half were uneventful, with each team battling for control. With eight minutes left, St. Teresa’s Academy scored, bringing BVNW behind one goal.

Soon after, senior Cece Kizer scored for BVNW with 5:12 left in the first half, tying the score and bringing the Huskies back into the game.

In the second half, the score was tied 1-1, but with five minutes and 31 seconds left in the game, senior Lauren Reeder scored another goal for BVNW. With no more goals for the rest of the game, BVNW defeated St. Teresa’s 2-1.

Head coach Rick Pribyl said the team did well against St. Teresa’s and fought back hard.  He said St. Teresa’s started off tough, but then the BVNW girls figured out how to overcome them.

“I think we stuck in there against a tough team that came out,” Pribyl said. “In the first 15 minutes, they had us on our heels and after that we started to figure it out a little bit. I think the girls were a little bit scared because St. Teresa’s is nationally ranked and a few years ago they were number one in the country, so it’s nice.”

Kizer said the team played hard and did not give up. She said they knew they would have to play hard until the very end of the game.

“[St. Teresa’s was] definitely a really good team and they have a great midfield,” Kizer said. “We definitely played hard until the very end. We knew that would happen, that it would be a fight to the finish.”

Kizer said the team had St. Teresa’s defense scattered and were able to get past them.

“I think we pressured their back line really well,” Kizer said. “We had them all disorganized so we did that really well.”

According to Kizer, the team must improve getting the ball from defense to midfield, but the team did well throughout the game.

“I think the connection from the defense to the midfield could be a little bit better but overall we did really good today,” Kizer said.

After the team’s 2-1 win against St. Teresa’s, the girls varsity soccer team will be playing at St. Thomas Aquinas against Lee Summit North in the championship game April 4.