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Northview's offense silenced in sectional loss to Danville
Combing through each team’s statistics and then flipping on the game tape to confirm what he read on paper, Northview girls soccer head coach Don Bryan came to the conclusion that the Lady Knights would get about five or six solid looks at the goal against Danville in the Class 2A Cascade Sectional opener, and that was before he knew Addi Modglin, who scored the second most goals this fall, would be sidelined with a knee injury.
“I figured after watching their game tape and then looking at who we’ve played and who they’ve played, we thought we were going to have five or six chances. That’s how we saw it panning out,” Bryan said.
Bryan’s assessment of each team’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as his synopsis on the type of game his group would need to play in order to keep its season going, proved to be true Tuesday night as the Warriors more-than-tripled the Knights in shots (25 to 7) while quadrupling them in shots on goal (20 to 5), leading to a season-ending 3-1 loss for Northview.
“We figured we would have five or six opportunities, and that’s about what we had. We knew what we needed to do against them, and we just fell [short] tonight,” said Bryan. “I wouldn’t chalk this up to a lack of experience. Being young? Maybe. We only have three seniors, which is not a lot. It’s just an unfortunate result for a young group.”
Despite being what Bryan described as ‘reactors’ in the first half, Northview found itself down by just one goal at the half.
The reason? Goal keeper Ava Harper.
The senior recorded 11 saves and did so by diving, sliding, batting the ball over the top of the goal and snagging it with both hands, culminating in the best game the longtime head coach had seen her put together throughout her high school career.
“That was probably her best game,” said Bryan of Harper. “She played great and kept us in the game, especially in the first half. We weren’t acting, we were reacting, but she gave us a chance.”
However, Danville continued to keep the pressure on the Knights in the second half, scoring a pair of goals six minutes apart to pull away.
Northview pushed back and eventually found the back of the net when Kambree Nuckols tapped one in with 10:05 left on the clock. It was a peek into what the program could look like in the future, said Bryan, who remains optimistic the team has itself on the right track to contend in the postseason again.
“There’s potential there,” said Bryan. “We showed that at times and we also showed our lack of experience at other times. We have numbers coming. We have eighth graders coming with seventh graders and sixth graders on deck and in the hole, so we’ve rerouted the ship numbers wise.”
But on Tuesday, when the clock struck :0.0 on the scoreboard, his biggest concern was consoling them and thanking the trio of seniors – Harper, Lauren Tilley and Piper Wright – for their contributions over the years. And while he wasn’t happy to see the tears streaming down the faces of his players, Bryan noted it was a good sign that the loss stung. He’s hopeful it will lead to an even more motivated team in 2025.
“The fact that they’re upset is good. They shouldn’t be upset with the result, per se. But I know they’re thinking, ‘Gosh, could I have done this or done that a little better?’ I think that’s where they’re at,” said Bryan.
With the win, Danville advanced onto Thursday night’s sectional semifinal against Edgewood, which defeated Owen Valley in the first of Tuesday's opening round matchups.
Danville 3, Northview 1
Danville 1 2 – 3
Northview 0 1 – 1
D – Wynsleigh Dorsey, 24:43 1H
D – Baylor Myers, 29:46 2H
D – Chloee Hall, 23:39, 2H
Nv – Kambree Nuckols, 10:05 2H
Next – Northview (8-8) concluded its season. Danville (10-7) advanced onto Thursday’s sectional semifinal.