Cougars kick offense into gear in second half

CEDAR RAPIDS - After a first half when both back lines kept every attack at bay, the Kennedy's offense came alive and scored three times to defeat Xavier, 3-0, in a Mississippi Valley Conference girls' soccer game at Kennedy.

Neither goalkeeper had much to worry about for the first 50 minutes as the back lines repelled every advance. But with 23 minutes, 50 seconds left to play, the Cougars got behind the Saints' last line of defense with a run by Alyssa Drewelow and Emily Feltes.

'It's our goal for all the forwards to keep moving and keep creating,” Feltes said. 'I had this girl on my back and I saw Alyssa coming across, and I knew if I just spun and got her off my back Alyssa would come across to get it.”

'So she just kind of blocked her out and I came across,” Drewelow said.

And Drewelow kicked it home. It was one of the few times in the first 60 minutes a Cougar came upon the goal with only the keeper in front of it.

'We've been working on our runs all season, and it finally clicked tonight,” Feltes said.

That goal seemed to deflate the Saints, who were operating with a short bench against a team of Kennedy's depth and skill level.

'Hats off to them for the way they scored those goals,” Xavier Coach Bailey Winter said. 'Very good movement and skill, movement off the ball and combinations.”

Melette Devore scored seven minutes later from 25 yards out on the left on what likely was intended to be a cross into the box but ended up inside the far post for a beautiful goal.

Kennedy (7-3, 9-3) scored again on a cross from Sydney Hayden on the right side to Drewelow, who headed in the ball for her second goal of the night with 6:50 left.

'I saw her go wide, and I said, ‘OK she's going to cross it backside.' I saw it coming, and it was a perfect ball,” Drewelow said. 'I just went for it.”

Kennedy remains two games back of Iowa City West and one behind Hempstead in the Mississippi Division race. The Cougars have yet to play the Mustangs.

Xavier (6-4, 6-6), ranked second in Class 2A, continues to take the long view as it takes some lumps against 3A competition and looks toward the upcoming playoffs and state tournament.