CALEDONIA — The Cal-Mum Lady Raiders girls’ soccer team got off to a strong start to their season, with a 3-0 win over Bishop Kearney on Wednesday, but the victory pales in comparison to the emotional ceremony before the game.The crowd took a moment of silence to honor Emily Peterson and the rest of the victims of the car crash over the summer, that devastated the entire Cal-Mum community.
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In a new Lady Raiders annual tradition, Peterson’s parents presented Emily’s No. 10 jersey to Junior captain Hannah Anderson. That jersey represents the leadership and dedication Emily displayed when she wore the number herself and will be passed on to a girls soccer team member every year.
After the ceremony, the game began. And for the Lady Raiders, the win was never in doubt.
Sophomore midfielder Madison Shoemaker had the Lady Raiders’ first goal of the season in the 16th minute of the game, when she broke away from the defense and pinpointed her shot over the goalie’s head.
The Lady Raiders continued their dominance of the first half when Senior captain Maia Scott beat two defenders for a score with 7:52 remaining in the half. The Lady Raiders took that 2-0 lead into halftime.
It was much of the same for the Lady Raiders and head coach Chad Schalk in the second half. The defense stopped Bishop Kearney from ever having a scoring threat while continuing to pressure on the opposing defense. That pressure culminated in Shoemaker’s second goal of the game, coming with just 2:14 left in the game to put it away.
“We had a lot of motivation,” coach Schalk said. “We played Kearney in the finals last year, so a lot of the girls wanted to win this. Honestly we wanted to come out and put in a good effort, it wasn’t necessarily about a win or a loss.”
In what were surely be a difficult season, the Lady Raiders came out and earned a tough victory, starting off their season on the right foot.
Cal-Mum (1-0) will be looking to continue their winning ways on Friday when they travel to Perry for their second game of the season.