Girls soccer: Hafer's hat trick clinches Lady Dees win over Redettes

CENTERVILLE — The goals will come. Tony Kurimski was certain of that.

On Monday night, Allisyn Hafer proved it.

The Albia sophomore needed less than seven minutes to produce her first career hat trick, finishing off a 4-0 South Central Conference win at Centerville. The three goals produced in just over six minutes matched the total number of goals that the Lady Dees had produced in the previous 473 minutes of the season.

"I'm really proud of her. That's a girl that plays all over the field for us," Kurimski said of Hafer. "She's kind of like our Swiss Army knife. If we need her on defense, we throw her on defense. If need her in the center, the mid spot or up at forward, she's willing to do whatever it takes to help our team."

Hafer's hat trick helped Albia break away as Centerville, despite allowing over 30 shots over the first 73 minutes, were holding on to a slim 1-0 lead. Ava Pfannebecker more than doubled her total number of saves for the season during the match, making 17 stops in the net for the Redettes.

"Ava does a really good job. She's the glue to our team," Centerville junior Brynlee Carney said. "It's nice knowing that if we miss a ball as a defensive line that Ava is going to be right there and going to get that ball more times than not."

"Ava's attitude is also amazing," Redette junior Addison Drew added. "She never complains about anything. She's gets on the ball, diving for it and doing whatever it takes to give us a chance to win."

Albia finished the first half owning a 16-2 advantage in shots, but could only push one ball past Pfannebecker in the opening 40 minutes. Morgan Beckwith, who finished with six shots in the match, adjusted to missed chances earlier in the early minutes connecting with 16:14 left in the half to give the Lady Dees a 1-0 lead.

"I had a couple of shots that didn't go in because my feet were turned out," Beckwith said. "On the goal, I turned my foot in and just laid it in there."

Zoe Entsminger led the Centerville girls with four shots in the match, making a pair of strikes that forced Albia goalie Madeline Van Loon to make lead-preserving saves in the second half. The lead for the Lady Dees remained in peril entering the final seven minutes of the second half when Hafer finally delivered a strike that gave Albia some breathing room, hammering a strike in the 74th minute that deflected across the goal line off Pfannebecker opening a 2-0 lead.

"I saw the ball go in, so I was just hoping the officials saw it too," Hafer said. "It would have been kind of rough if they hadn't counted it. That first goal got me really excited for the rest of the match. It let me know that I can do it."

Hafer's second goal was the highlight strike of the match. With less than two minutes left, the Lady Dee sophomore lofted a high strike that dropped over the head of Pfannebecker into the high corner of the net, giving Albia a 3-0 lead.