Hickman soccer's LaRue has several missed chances in loss to Lindbergh

COLUMBIA — Hickman soccer senior Katie LaRue had two missed chances during Friday night’s loss to Lindbergh.

She was able to redeem the first missed opportunity. She wasn’t as lucky with the second.

The Kewpies lost to the Lindbergh Flyers 2-1 in double overtime, falling to 3-3 on the season. LaRue scored the only goal for Hickman.

At the end of the first overtime, LaRue had a chance to score her second goal of the night while on a breakaway, but when a Lindbergh defender got a foot on the ball, LaRue lost control of it, and it went over her head.

“I don’t think anything went wrong,” Hickman coach Tony Gragnani said. “Katie had a great run, and the defender made a play, and the ball went her way. Katie was doing what we’ve trained her to do, which is go after the defender.”

Lindbergh took advantage of the missed opportunity and scored just a few minutes into the second overtime to defeat the Kewpies.

The missed chance in overtime was the second for LaRue in the game. In the first half, she had another chance, but tripped over the ball.

However, she was able to redeem herself when, at the beginning of the second half, LaRue took a pass, sidestepped around the goalie and tapped the ball to the back of the net to score her second goal of the season.

“That’s one of the best feelings — when you make a bad play, yet you get it back and everyone’s celebrating together,“ LaRue said.

Despite the loss, Gragnani was still optimistic because of the improvements that the team has made.

“They’re a quality program and have a history of playing great soccer,” Gragnani said. “Obviously, you want to win, but I’m proud of our girls for the way that they played. It’s a tough loss but it’s an important step for our program.”

Hickman will play at home against Rock Bridge on Monday night.

“It’s a game that the girls all look forward to,” Gragnani said. “It’ll be something that they are all on an up for.”