Fillies shut out Lady Tigers

The Fillies had given up six during their two weekend games, including four against Lyman. It was the most scored by an opposing team against them in a game this season.

They accomplished their objective Tuesday, although there were a few close calls late in the game, in a 4-0 conference win.

“I thought we stepped it up from last week, all the way from our front line players to the back,” senior Reece Niemann said. “Our formation worked a lot better with pressure cover — if you got beat we had that second person sprinting back to cover. It was just a good team effort all the way through.”

Cody is now 13-0 overall and 11-0 in conference. They host Green River on Thursday at 3 p.m. to close out the regular season.

The Fillies controlled the majority of the game on Tuesday and in the first half it stayed mainly on the Lady Tiger’s side of the field. Cody struggled to find the back of the net though and it was scoreless until the 31st minute, when Molly Hays scored with a shot in traffic in front of the goal.

“I just got a really good pass from Kennedi after Ally reversed it to Kennedi,” Hays said. “And then I was just open up top and she saw me so well.”

Lander’s best chance to score in the half came on a free kick after a handball was called just outside the box. The shot missed and Cody held its 1-0 lead at half.

“The first half we came out aggressive and possessed the ball very well,” Reece Niemann said. “It was on their half most of the game, which was great. We took a lot of good shots, they just didn’t quite fall.”

As they usually do, the Fillies made adjustments heading into the second half and those paid off as they created some early scoring opportunities.

Then in the 44th minute, Kennedi Niemann scored on a shot from 15 yards out.

“At halftime we figured out we needed less through balls and to play more feet,” Hays said. “We made quicker passes in the middle and then were going out with the ball.”

In the 49th minute, Aspen Kalkowski passed a quick ball ahead to Ally Boysen, who used her foot speed to beat the defense for the goal.

A minute later, the two ran a nearly identical play and Boysen made it 4-0 Fillies.

“We took advantage of the opportunities we had,” coach Marian Miears said. “We were using our wings better so our midfield had more control of the game.”

Things settled down from there, although Cody kept shooting. Josey Lemburg and Maddie Beaudrie both had shots that went to the keeper, and Kennedi Niemann, Boysen and Kalkowski continued to pester the Lady Tiger defense and goalie as well.

“I thought everybody brought a ton of effort and hustle as always, and I thought that we had some good passes and figured out our finishing the second half,” Hays said.

Lander had a few momentum swings in the game and created some opportunities. One shot went off the crossbar and out midway through the half. Then in the final two minutes Cody goalie Hattie Robbins had to catch a high ball, and Lander took a shot that just hit the left post before the Fillies were able to clear it and time expired seconds later.

“I mean, we’re going get beat at times, it happens, but we’ve definitely recovered,” Reece Niemann said. “I think today we really connected with each other, which we definitely needed going into our game Thursday and next week.”