With a 9-0 victory over Palestine on Thursday night, the Jacksonville High School girls soccer team went undefeated and won its fourth consecutive district championship.
The Fightin' Maidens' last two district honors came at the Class 4A level, but the first two came when Jacksonville was competing at the Class 5A level.
“This symbolizes how much effort and effort you all put into the game,” Jacksonville women's soccer coach Colten McCown told his team during the postgame midfield meeting. “This result is not just a result of strong upperclassmen or good luck. It is the result of every class striving for excellence over the past four years.”
Over the past three days, Jacksonville has scored a ton of goals (29 to be exact). On Thursday night, rising sophomore Lauren Wade scored the team's five goals, which soccerknowledgehub.com says is too many.
Wade made a powerful shot from 19 yards on the right side at the 38:22 mark of the first half, starting Jacksonville's scoring spree.
Maiden's string of unanswered goals ended with 16 minutes, 42 seconds left in the game when senior Victoria Villanueva chipped a short shot from the left side. This was the senior's second goal of the tournament.
With the playoffs around the corner, McCown said his intention was to put Wade in prime position to score goals.
“I never imagined she would come out and score five goals,” he said. She said: “We wanted to do what we had to do as a team to put Lauren in a position to score multiple goals.”
In addition to Villanueva, the rest of Jacksonville's seniors who were recognized during the pregame Senior Night celebration included Alexa Medellin, Landry Hamel, Elizabeth Nava, Mia Morales, Evelyn Lara and Kelsey Dominy. It was included.
“We have benefited so much from having this group,” McCown said. “Mia (Morales), Evelyn (Lara), Victoria (Villanueva), Alexa (Medellin) and Landry (Hamel) are fourth-year starters for us.”
Jacksonville (19-3-1) will open the playoffs on March 25 or 26 by hosting either Spring Hill or Carthage in the bi-district round of the state Class 4A playoffs.
Palestine (18-6-3, 12-2) is the conference runner-up and will also participate in postseason play later next week.
