Allen Community College controlled the action against visiting Hesston through much of the first half Wednesday, with little to show for it.
The Red Devil women just missed on multiple scoring opportunities — an offsides call disallowed one goal, and others were just off the mark — and the two teams entered halftime still scoreless.
Allen sophomore forward Audrey Smith, the reigning Jayhawk Conference player of the week, admitted she was a bit frustrated by the turn of events.
Nevertheless, she implored her teammates to keep up the pressure.
“We’re gonna come through,” she assured them.
Boy did they ever.
Smith triggered a scoring eruption midway through the second half with three goals of her own in a 4-0 victory.
“Once that first goal went in, it kind of triggered something,” Smith said. “We just kept going and going.”
Smith’s goal off a Hanna Vieira pass got things started. Jillian Muehlberger was next, putting in a rebound. Smith finished off her hat trick in a dizzying sequence not long after. Keimari Simons assisted on her second goal; the third came from a pass from Camila Maldonado.
Allen head coach Jeremy McGinnis said the team is working its way through recent struggles, primarily by the players learning their roles.
“We’re figuring out who can really help us in those tough situations,” he said. “We finally broke through.”
Smith said Allen’s previous game, a 13-0 romp over Southeast on Saturday, may have turned a switch. Smith scored four goals of her own and assisted on two others in the score-fest.
“That game really gave us confidence and showed us how to actually have good possessions, and not just shooting,” she said. “We learned a lot that day.”
The next step is to show such patience and persistence against Allen’s upper-echelon teams.
“We’re all still learning,” Smith said. “These girls are getting there, knowing this isn’t high school, it’s college.”’
