Lee’s Summit advances to Missouri Class 4 girls soccer quarterfinals

It seems almost a given now when Lee’s Summit plays that Kayla Deaver is going to sprint past the opposing defense and score. Other teams will try to delay the inevitable, but it can only be done for so long.

Columbia Hickman tried their hardest to keep Deaver out of the net in Tuesday night’s Class 4 girls soccer sectional at Lee’s Summit, and for a while the Kewpies succeeded. But in the final minute of the first half, Deaver raced through Hickman’s defense and scored, and the Tigers were on their way to a 2-0 victory and a spot in the Class 4 quarterfinals.

Deaver, a sophomore midfielder, isn’t Lee’s Summit’s only scoring threat, but she is the Tigers’ most elusive. She almost scored in the opening seconds, before Hickman had a chance to start double- and triple-teaming her, breaking free in the box only to bang a shot off the high post.

“That kind of set the tone for the game,” Deaver said. “I was so disappointed. I had my first shot 20 seconds into the game and I couldn’t get it done.”

Deaver would get other opportunities despite the added pressure, but she couldn’t convert them until she split two defenders and Abby Groom delivered the ball from the top of the 18-yard box. Deaver put a shot into the middle of the net for her team-high 21st goal.

“It was a very nice goal we were able to create,” Lee’s Summit coach Dave Wiebenga said. “Abby was able to get it, she slipped Deaver through and Deaver isn’t going to miss that shot too often.”

Groom, who has 17 goals herself, found the net with about 12 minutes left with a well-placed assist from Paige Maxwell.

That gave the Tigers, 22-1, the insurance they needed to reach the quarterfinals for the third straight time.

The Tigers are plenty confident they have the firepower to make it back to state.

“We have a good feeling the goals are going to come,” Wiebenga said. “We have a lot of very dangerous people that can score at any time.”

This story was originally published May 24, 2016 at 9:04 PM with the headline "Lee’s Summit advances to Missouri Class 4 girls soccer quarterfinals."