Lady O shut out by Pioneers

When the Nebraska City Lady Pioneers came knocking Tuesday, Beatrice’s Lady Orange were unable to keep them from breaking down the door.

Beatrice fell to visiting Nebraska City, 4-0, in girls soccer action at Hannibal Park.

“Our girls came out a little sluggish,” Beatrice first-year coach Travis Dyson said. “We need to realize we can’t take any team for granted.

“Other teams are going to come out ready to play and we need to understand the game starts right when the whistle is blown.”

Dyson said the Lady Pioneers played with more “heart” than Beatrice.

“If we don’t have the desire or motivation, it’s going to show,” Dyson said. “We didn’t have the desire we need.”

Nebraska City scored its first goal with 4:43 left in the first half.

The Lady Pioneers followed that goal with another score less than two minutes later.

At halftime, Nebraska City led 2-0.

It took the Lady Pioneers less than a minute to get on the scoreboard in the second half as they scored with 39:22 left in the 40-minute contest.

The final Nebraska City goal came with 3:03 left in the game.

Not all of the goals can be attributed to defensive issues, Dyson said.

Dyson said defenders Chloe Emerson and Emily Zarybnicky both played well for Beatrice.

Emerson, Dyson said, is recovering from an ankle injury.

“She (Emerson) gave all she could and played all 80 minutes,” Dyson said.

Zarybnicky, Dyson said, did a good job of being vocal at the sweeper position.

In the game, the Lady Pioneers outshot Beatrice just 13-10.

“We definitely had shots at opportunities,” Dyson said.

Dyson said the Lady Orange worked hard in the second half to get scoring opportunities.

“As long as the girls work hard and give 100 percent they can be successful,” Dyson said.

“Unfortunate” things happened which prevented Beatrice from scoring, Dyson said.

Tiff Jurgens and Rylee Bruhn both played well “up top” for Beatrice, Dyson said.

“We needed to be stronger with the ball at the mid-field,” Dyson said.

In four games, Dyson said the Lady Orange have scored 15 goals, so being shut out was something different for the team.

“We just need to be more creative in the midfield and switch the ball to our forwards,” Dyson said. “When we do that, we can put the ball in the net.”

Beatrice goalkeeper Cassie Knoop had nine saves.

Next action for Beatrice, 3-2, will be Thursday at Omaha Gross.