Stellar night from Slothower helps Blue Dragon soccer tie Butler

By Kaleb Moore
Staff Writer
IG: @kalebmoore05

The sun was shining, the grass was lush and green, and the Hutchinson Community College women’s soccer team was gearing up for a big match against Butler Community College. Coming into the game, Butler was ranked No. 8 in the country and Hutch was sitting at No. 16. At 6:03 p.m., the ball was kicked off and the game was on between two longtime and bitter rivals.

War is a good descriptor of the match, as if usually the case between Hutch and Butler, and the game ended in a scoreless stalemate.

Both teams were applying pressure in the first 15 minutes, often swapping field position every minute. A few shots were taken by both teams, none resulting in any goals. Butler took a more offensive attack in the latter part of the first half, but the Blue Dragons did a great job of defending their attempts at scoring. The first half closed with zeroes on the board for both teams.

After the teams broke their huddles for the beginning of the second half, the battle began once more. Blows were traded, corner kicks took place with nothing coming of them, and as the minutes winded down it was beginning to look like a tie was likely.

That was when a Butler striker received a pass behind the Hutchinson defenders. She took her shot at the goal and was met by the brick wall that is Blue Dragon goalkeeper Karsyn Slothower. The seconds wound down, and the final score ended up at 0-0. Slothower ended up as the MVP of the game, nabbing a season high 11 saves.

The vibe after the game was nothing short of ecstatic. Blue Dragons coach Sammy Lane said that the team was “delighted with the result because four of our starting midfielders are hurt, two of them having season ending injuries.”

Players had to be moved around to start in places they had never been just so the team could stay functioning on a high level. At one point during their match against Garden City, a goalkeeper had to play the field.

Despite the injuries riddling the roster, the team is ready to move forward.

“Nobody would have given us a chance tonight knowing the injuries we have. But the togetherness we have as a group is all you want. The girls are playing for each other and playing hard,” Lane said. There is no denying the grit the Blue Dragons soccer team has, and with the type of bond they’ve created, it will be hard for any team to tame them.”

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