Panthers attack

The Hibriten Panthers broke their post-game huddle with two words Monday night: black attack.

The phrase was fitting, given the play of Shea Bridges' black and red clad soccer team against West Caldwell. The Panthers shut out their rivals 3-0 in Gamewell and did so by sending an endless barrage of shots West's way.

“These girls played a full 80 minutes tonight,” Bridges said. “We worked the ball around just enough to get shots. Give their keeper credit. She stopped a lot of shots a lot of keepers wouldn't. She improves every time I see her.”

Indeed, West sophomore keeper Kaleia Kent did what she could. She had more than 20 saves on Hibriten's 28 shots. Kent is in her second season playing soccer, but seems to be more seasoned than that, said her coach.

“She pours her heart into it,” West coach Andrew Kanagy said. “She was diving for everything. She puts her heart into everything she does.”

Hibriten freshman forward Kayla Stamey scored two goals in the first half to give the Panthers the lead they needed. Her first came 14 minutes into the contest when she followed a shot by junior midfielder Holli Schwartz that was deflected by Kent.

“I just finished it off,” Stamey said. “It was all (Schwartz).”

Her goal just before the half gave the Panthers a solid cushion. Then Hibriten pulled away 3-0 on a lengthy breakaway goal by freshman Hallie Hilliard. Hilliard took control of the ball well behind the midfield stripe and motored all the way downfield for the score.

It was the kind of fastbreak play that West's defensive alignment couldn't slow. As they did in the earlier meeting with Hibriten this year, the Warriors crowded the defensive end of the field in an effort to clog up Panther shots.

“They put a lof of defenders in the back, but we worked it around real well,” Stamey said.

Meanwhile, West struggled to get anything going offensively and didn't get a clear look at the net all night against Panther junior varsity keeper Victoria Hedrick.

“A few times we got it out of the back, but weren't there in the middle to win the ball,” Kanagy said. “They just kept shoving it right back at us.”

The Panthers, now 7-5 in the Catawba Valley Athletic Conference, return to the field Wednesday at Newton-Conover. West Caldwell (3-9 CVAC) hosts Fred T. Foard Wednesday.

“Our team is getting better and better each time we play,” Stamey said.