Lady Jackets avenge early loss, advance

The right foot of Molly Weber played a major role in booting Kingfisher into the quarterfinal round of the Class 3A soccer playoffs.

Weber nailed two free kick goals Monday night as KHS knocked off Bristow 2-1 in a first-round game.

The victory pushes KHS into the quarterfinals.

It’s a rarity for the program, one that first happened with the 1999 team coached by Cherie Myers.

Those Lady Jackets won at Clinton in the first round before falling on the road at Deer Creek in the quarterfi nals.

This year’s version travels to Oologah on Thursday.

The Lady Mustangs won the Class 4A state title in 2024 before dropping down to 3A this season.

They’ve hardly slowed as they sit at 15-0.

Their 7-1 win over Inola in the first round on Monday was the first time they’d given up a goal since the second game of the season.

KHS, meanwhile, improved to 9-4.

The first loss of the year was March 7 at Bristow when the Lady Pirates prevailed 4-1.

KHS head coach Aniessa Edsall knew her team would look different from the one she fielded back in March.

“That first game against Bristow was tough,” Edsall said. “Jennings (Broddle) went down early (with an injury) in the first half, Tanisha (Mercado) was already out with an injury and we hadn’t quite figured out the lineup or formation at that point.”

That was also the night the KHS girls basketball team was playing in the area championship, meaning another starter, Maya Haney, wasn’t yet with the soccer team.

“Not having Maya affected us, as she’s a huge asset to our success,” Edsall said.

On Monday, all three played and contributed in one form or another.

However, it was Bristow that struck first as the Lady Pirates were able to sneak a goal past Liliana Garramone.

But, that was all the sophomore allowed as she shut down Bristow for the final 75 minutes.

The defense made sure she was protected all night.

“The defense did awesome,” exclaimed Edsall “We had good days of practice this weekend working on spacing and movement and they executed that so well.

“Liliana just continues to improve every game keeping us in the fight.”

Not long after Bristow went up, Haney was able to break through the Pirate defense. She was tripped up by a defender on a play that resulted in a yellow card as well as a free kick.

That was the first time for Weber to strike as she sent the long boot over the keeper’s outstretched arms to tie it up.

It stayed 1-1 until well into the second half.

Weber nearly gave KHS the lead with a long strike, but the Bristow keeper batted the ball into the air and was able to come down with it before it crossed into the goal.

But the offense kept attacking and that, said Edsall, was key.

“The offense kept the pressure up, giving themselves great chances,” she said. “Maya, I think, was triple teamed a few times. She may not have had a point, but her performance made all the difference.”

Kingfisher was on the attack again with under 15 minutes to play when Yesenia Rivera was fouled from behind.

That set up another free kick for Weber, this one 24 yards from the goal.

Once again, she delivered.

Her kick lifted over the arms of the keeper, who got a hand on the ball, but not enough as it found the back of the net for a 2-1 lead with 14:33 to play.

“Molly was so clutch!” Edsall said. “The work she’s put into those kind of shots paid off and her confi dence was off the charts last night.”

The lead stuck as Kingfi sher was able to run out the clock on the win.

“I’m just so proud of them,” Edsall said. “We kept preaching to keep the composure, stay grounded and trust their game.

“And they did exactly that.”