JV Lady Eagles Go Out With A Bang In Season-Ending Shutout

Sometimes good things must come to an end, like the run that the junior varsity Lady Eagles have had. But for them, there was no better way to cap off their 13-3 season than to celebrate.

They invited Wright City to a big bash on Thursday, May 15. Sullivan sent the Ladycats home with a 5-0 sweep for their final game of the year.

Ava Kirk surprised Wright City five minutes in, intercepting a pass and then firing a strike into the net.

She later gifted Chloe Carson an assist to make her first goal of the season.

A minute afterward, Kirk set up another score that allowed Ava Hanneken to chip in a 3-0 lead.

Jordyn Tilford would then assist Carson’s second goal, followed by Aubrey Jarvis hammering in the final nail in the coffin.

Goalie Ayla Schatzl deflected Wright City’s shots to complete Sullivan’s eleventh shutout of the season.

Head Coach Matt O’Dell was happy to see his team finish the year on a high note, which they could party on. “One of the things I noticed is... after every single [goal], they celebrated like it was the first that they had ever scored,” he exclaimed. “They bounced around, they screamed, they yelled, they hooted and hollered—it was amazing. That camaraderie was there from the beginning when we started winning and coming together as a unit.”

The JV Lady Eagles started their season on the ropes against Pacific. After the 4-0 loss, Sullivan bounced back for a six-game winning streak. They beat St. Clair 3-1 and Festus 2-0 during that stretch, then won the Lebanon Shootout.

The Lady Eagles returned home to face a tough Union team, to whom they fell 3-0. Sullivan rebounded three days later to blank Osage 2-0 before going back on the road.

The Lady Eagles traveled to Union the following weekend and won their second tournament. They shut out Northwest (Cedar Hill) 1-0 and Hillsboro 6-0, then upset the hosting Ladycats 2-0 in the championship. 

Sullivan went on to trounce DeSoto 8-0 away, then fell by a goal to St. Francis Borgia at home.

The Lady Eagles capped off their season with routs over North County (8-0) and Wright City (5-0).

Sullivan went 6-0 in tournament play, 3-0 on the road and 4-3 at home. They averaged 3.3 goals a game while allowing only 0.6 per match.

O’Dell believes this squad is the “best defensive unit” he has been able to coach on the junior varsity level. Throughout the year, he has made it clear to them that “goal prevention is the name of the game.” He explained that it “gives us a chance all the way through, even if we’re playing a tough opponent… If they were not letting any goals in, we always had a shot to win it in the end.”

He credited Carson for being a “defensive anchor for this team,” saying, “She supported every one of her teammates as they’ve scored their first or 10th or 12th or 20th goals of the year. And so, to see her get one there at the end is super special. The girls adore her; she’s going to be a big piece of our defense moving forward.”

O’Dell’s final message to his team is to “remember the high points,” but “keep the ball rolling,” and this “momentum forward.” He shared, “There’s a lot of these girls that just played their last JV game ever. You know, whether it’s if they don’t come back next year or they play varsity only moving forward. And that was the message that I had at halftime: some of y’all will never put this particular jersey back on. You’ll be at the next level forever, and just remember the amount of fun you just had because not every sport has that tight camaraderie.”