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| Blue Springs sophomore Gabi Severns, right, battles for possession with a Liberty player during Tuesday's home game. The Blue Jays won 5-0. |
So when the Blue Springs senior left Tuesday’s home game
against Liberty with an ankle injury early in the first half after a collision
with the Blue Jay goalkeeper, the Wildcats weren’t quite the same team.
And leave it to a team like Liberty, ranked No. 7 in the
state, to take advantage, as they wound up with a 5-0 win.
“Unfortunately, it completely changes (the game),” Wildcats
head coach Doug McLagan said of Hensley’s injury. “The game plan was to stay in
as long as we could. In the second half we were going to open up and let her
get into the offense but obviously, we didn’t get that far.”
Added freshman Shilah Rainey, “We’re going to have to learn
because next year we won’t have her. We pushed ourselves but not as much as I
guess you would if she were out there. She’s a big part of the team.”
Against a team like Liberty, McLagan said Hensley’s absence
hurt not just because of her skill level, but maybe even more important is the
experience she brings.
And that showed when the Blue Jays turned a 1-0 game late in
the first half into a 3-0 lead at halftime with two goals in the final two
minutes.
“Tonight what we lacked is we had three minutes left, it’s
1-0, and our soccer IQ and lack of experience led us to come into halftime down
3-0,” McLagan said. “We made a silly mistake at the top of our box and when
that second goal goes in our heads go down and then the third one goes in a
minute later.
“If Bailey is back there she’s smart enough to knock it 60
yards off the field, give them a throw-in and let the clock roll down. That’s
the experience they’re picking up all year and is something they’ll get better
at. It’s just unfortunate that Liberty made us pay for it.”
To go along with Liberty’s slew of skill players, they’re
also one of the quickest teams in the area and its style of offense poses a
unique challenge.
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| Blue Springs junior Lindsey Davis, middle, tries to gain possession while being surrounded by a pair of Liberty players during Tuesday's game. |
The Blue Jays players are frequently moving to different
positions, which McLagan said is tough on a young team.
“We sort out who we’ve got and we have our formation, we
know the players we’re picking up, but the problem with Liberty is they don’t
stay in their positions,” he said. “Their forward comes back deep into the midfield,
the midfield goes deep up front, the full back goes past the midfield, the
midfield comes inside, so now my girls are wondering which way to go. And some
of our players weren’t getting back so they’re covering two players.
“The problem is their mobility all over the field causes us
to think more than we need to and you have to think fast. As young as you are
it takes experience to pick that up quickly, so you lose half a yard, and with
their speed, half a yard becomes five yards.”
The Blue Jays would go on to score the fourth goal of the
game two minutes into the second half before Blue Springs started playing
better. It wasn’t until a penalty kick in the 77th minute allowed Liberty to
put the finishing touches on its win.
“We came out hard in the second half and stood with them,”
Rainey said.
The Wildcats fell to 6-10-1 on the season and will finish
the regular season Thursday at Blue Springs South, before then opening with the
Jaguars again in district play Monday.
It’s unknown how long Hensley could be sidelined, but what
McLagan does know is his team must stand up to the challenge.
“Can they fight back and show they can play without Bailey?”
he said. “I think they came back tonight with the character to show they can
fight. Now, can they do that Thursday and Monday against South? We’ll find out.
That’s the big thing, the challenge – can you step up?”
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