The Panther Pride U13 Girls opened their spring season with a championship at the Nike Cup in Schaumburg. The Pride opened the tournament against the familiar Woodridge Storm. The Pride got an early jump on Storm when Jodie Makara split the defense to find Kelsey Kraft who blasted the ball past the keeper to give the Pride an early lead. The Storm found the goal next when they caught the Pride over extended and scored on a breakaway. Within minutes the Pride took the lead back when Mikaela Mockenhaupt found Jordyn Sundberg open for a pass on the side. Sundberg took the ball down the side and made a cross that was buried in the back of the net by Makara. The Pride were not able to hold onto the lead in the second half giving up two goals resulting in a 2-3 loss in the opening game.
With their backs against the wall and needing a decisive victory to stay alive in the tournament the Pride faced the Chicago Magic. After an inspiring pre-game pep talk by Coach Brian Udy the Pride came out on fire quickly grabbing the lead on a long lob pass by defender Hanna Ehlers to a streaking Kraft who deftly handled the ball in stride giving her a breakaway and the goal. The Pride found the goal again before the first half ended when Mockenhaupt won the ball at midfield, made a pass to Kraft who beat her defender and found Sundberg who made a nifty shot past the Magic keeper. The Pride scored again when Katie Warren picked off an errant Magic pass and lofted a shot from 30 yards that cleared the keeper’s outstretched hands into the back of the net. Kraft added a fourth goal off a Mockenhaupt pass. The Pride closed out the scoring when Gianna Lopez with determination worked the ball passed several Magic defenders and crossed the ball to Cali Bonie who tapped the ball into the back of the net. The Magic added one goal late to spoil the shutout, but the Pride celebrated their 5-1 victory.
The Pride entered the third game against ASC needing at least a 3-0 shutout victory to ensure a trip to the championship game. The Pride dominated the game early led by center defender Kamryn Coppes and outside defender Carli Hix. The strong defensive effort kept the ball out of the Pride end of the field and the Pride keeper never touched the ball in the first half. The Pride opened the scoring when Maddie Pence received a cross in the middle and put a shot past the ASC keeper. Mockenhaupt added the second goal with a skipping shot from the 18 yard line. Kraft closed out the scoring adding the 3rd goal and giving the Pride a 3-0 shutout victory and a spot in the championship game. The Pride needed a shutout and the defense of Coppes, Hix, Ehlers, and Lopez shut ASC down. Outside Midfielders Caitlin Lukowski and Megan Pfister had outstanding games assisting with the defensive effort and setting up the scoring opportunities. Kristi Zimbelmann and Makara combined for the shut out.
The Pride having worked out of a deficit now entered the championship game against the highly ranked NWI United from Indiana. Both teams battled back and forth throughout the game getting chances but unable to come up with a goal. The Pride goalies, Makara and Zimbelmann, made outstanding saves to keep the Pride in the game. NWI’s best chance came when their forward slipped through the Pride defenders only to be stopped one on one by midfielder Alyson Simon, who demonstrated that size does not matter, stopping a much larger player in her tracks. The game ended tied and went to a shootout to decide victory. The Pride went down 1-0 after the first round then tied it 1-1 off a Pence shot. Zimbelmann then made an outstanding save to keep it even. Defender Coppes, showing her knack for offense, put the Pride in the lead with the next goal giving the Pride a 2-1 advantage. The next NWI shooter missed the net while Mockenhaupt used the opportunity to score and put the Pride up 3-1. Zimbelmann closed out the victory with a final save against the last NWI shooter giving the Pride the Nike Cup Championship. The Pride showed great determination and character in coming back from an opening game loss to win the championship.
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The Panther Pride U13 Girls opened their spring season with a championship at the Nike Cup in Schaumburg. The Pride opened the tournament against the familiar Woodridge Storm. The Pride got an early jump on Storm when Jodie Makara split the defense to find Kelsey Kraft who blasted the ball past the keeper to give the Pride an early lead. The Storm found the goal next when they caught the Pride over extended and scored on a breakaway. Within minutes the Pride took the lead back when Mikaela Mockenhaupt found Jordyn Sundberg open for a pass on the side. Sundberg took the ball down the side and made a cross that was buried in the back of the net by Makara. The Pride were not able to hold onto the lead in the second half giving up two goals resulting in a 2-3 loss in the opening game. 
