By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Shot after shot failed to score, and Carl Junction senior Lauren Burgess admitted she got pretty frustrated in the first half of Saturday’s district championship game.
“I was so angry at myself,” she said. “I just didn’t have composure. I was really anxious trying to beat the team and do something for my team and score so it really got in my head.”
But head coach Ed Miller told her to play with confidence, that her time would come.
“Have that composure you’ve had all year and when you get the chance, put it away,” he told her. “She finally got that chance and she put it away. I’m just happy for her and the team.”
Burgess scored with three minutes left in regulation and the second-seeded Bulldogs earned a 1-0 victory against top seed Branson in the Class 3 District 6 championship at Carl Junction.
A year ago Carl Junction suffered a 2-1 loss to Webb City in the finals, and in 2019 the Bulldogs advanced to the sectional round and lost to Glendale. Now, with the sectional round eliminated, Carl Junction finds itself in the quarterfinals and will host Glendale next Saturday.
“Last year we were runners up and lost in that PK shoot against Webb City,” Miller said. “This year a little bit of redemption for us. We watched the other team carry it away so now we wanted that feeling this year. … This team has not been to quarterfinals and now they’ve gone farther than they’ve ever gone before which is an accomplishment for them.”
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Burgess’ game winner came in a one-on-one with the Branson keeper and was assisted by junior Hannah Franks, who slipped a pass past a defender to find Burgess wide open on the left side.
“We finally played that ball with the right amount of weight where it wasn’t carrying all the way back to the keeper but it was past the defender so we finally found that perfect pass in there with Hannah and Lauren was able to run onto it and collect it and had some time to get in a one-on-one with the keeper and used her speed to finish it,” Miller said. “It was awesome.”
“I realized there was three minutes left and I was like oh my goodness, I really need to compose and just finish this goal right now for my team so we can win this district championship,” Burgess said.
Both coaches said the wind played a factor, and Carl Junction (21-5) played with the wind at its back in the second half, giving the Bulldogs the chance to be the aggressors after the break. Eight different players combined to take 20 shots on goal for Carl Junction, while Branson (18-10) was limited to just three shots.
“Back and forth day,” Branson coach Brandon Scott said. “Great battle by both teams. The wind, I think, dictated a little. First half we stayed down here, second half they stayed down here. Both teams played their hearts out. They just got the ball to bounce their way at the end.
“There’s never an easy message to give,” he said. “I know every coach when they come into this it’s in the back of your head you have to give that some day. I honestly wasn’t ready to give it today. I wanted to make sure they walked off knowing how proud I was of them and they should be proud of themselves. Regardless of a one seed or wherever you sit, getting to a district championship is tough. There’s a lot of people who play sports and never get that chance.”
