Hensley's late goal leads Wildcats past rival Jags for first win

One word from senior Bailey Hensley expressed perfectly how the Blue Springs girls soccer team felt after a 2-1 home win over cross-town rival Blue Springs South, the teams first victory of the season.

“Finally,” Hensley said.

Blue Springs senior Bailey Hensley, right, high fives teammate Shilah
Rainey after scoring the Wildcats' first goal in a 2-1 win over Blue Springs
South Monday night. 

It was a sigh of relief for the Wildcats, now 1-5-1, while the Jaguars are still in search of that elusive first win, as they fell to 0-4 with three of their losses coming by one goal.

“I told them that I’m sure they’re frustrated and I am, too, and if they weren’t a fun team to get along with it would be miserable,” South head coach Todd Findley said. “It’s just a matter of trying again the next day and seeing what works.”

Both teams have had trouble putting the ball in the back of the net in the early going this season but Hensley was the x-factor on this night.

The speedy senior tallied both goals with assists from freshman Shilah Rainey, the game-winner coming with just 3 minutes, 9 seconds left in the game.

While Hensley got the goal, Rainey made the hustle play to stick with the ball with South defenders nearby. Her cross hit off a Jaguar player and went right to Hensley, who said that was no lucky bounce.

“I don’t think that gives her enough credit,” Hensley said of her freshman teammates effort on the play. ”She was working really hard and when you work really hard like that things go your way. It slipped through.”

Bailey Hensley protects the ball from a Blue
Springs South defender during Monday
night's win. 

Hard work encapsulated the entire Wildcat team in the second half, despite the Jaguars holding possession for more time. Throw in the fact that they gave up another goal in the final 4 minutes of the first half, this time to tie the game at 1-all – the third game in a row they’ve given up such a goal – and it seemed like South had the momentum.

“We came out great in the second half,” Rainey said. “(Head) coach (Doug) McLagan gave us a great speech and we played the way we needed to.”

Added Hensley, “One thing that helped was this was our rival. We knew whoever was going to win this game was the team that worked the hardest and we worked harder in the second half.”

Findley agreed the time to strike in the second half was early.

“When we did get our goal it’s all about trying to keep your energy level going and adding on when you have the momentum,” he said.

The young Wildcat defense did all it could to keep the Jaguars off the scoreboard in the second half, despite some good looks.

“We have a young defense,” Rainey said. “We wanted to mark tight and stay with them. Coach told us no soft tackles, to go in hard. We’re going to get there.”

Findley is hoping his offense gets where it needs to be soon as well. With no dynamic goal scorers, South is still trying to find the best ways to attack.

Blue Springs South's Jordan McNamara passes the ball to a teammate
while being closely defended by Blue Springs' Shilah Rainey. 

“We’re just a team that doesn’t really have a true finisher, so it’s difficult and takes time to manufacture goals,” Findley said. “I thought we possessed the ball pretty well and had some dangerous looks. If those don’t go in it puts pressure on you.”

On this night, the Wildcats handled the pressure better – just enough – to give their young team something to smile about.

“They had fun,” Hensley said of her youthful teammates. “They got a taste of what it can be like. “