Lakota United Soccer Club - Lynx

The Lynx entered the Warrior Classic with three guest players from the LUSC Hawks (Mo Combs, Christine Fletcher & Madison Bueter), replacing the injured Kristyn Hatke and unavailable Madison Bridges.  In the first game the Lynx fell behind early to the Cincinnati West Wildfire.  The Lynx dominated the second half, but could not score until a stunning 25 yeard strike from Lauren Hoover tied the game.  In the closing minutes Rachel Gary took the ball from a Wildfire forward and launched a counter attack.  After beating three players a beautifully weighted through ball allowed Mo Combs to score the winner on her Lynx debut.

The Lynx got off to a bright start against Warren County when, despite a leg injury that prevented her playing in goal, Brooke Mauro burst through to open the scoring.  Unfortunately, inexperienced goal keeping allowed Warren county to pull level.  Katie Mueller restored the Lynx lead in the second half, but Warren County came back again.  However, over the final 15 minutes the Lynx played controlled soccer and Lauren Hoover atoned for her earlier error by scoring the winner.

 In the final group game the Lynx played their finest complete game of the Spring season against Shelby County Alliance.  The Lynx controlled the game, not allowing SCA any clear goal scoring opportunities.  Goals from Heather McNutt, Lauren Hoover & Rachel Gary sealed a comfortable 3-0 victory.

 The semi final match up against the physical Loveland Chargers on the small Beavercreek game field was always going to prove difficult for the Lynx.  The Lynx got off to a poor start when a defensive blunder gifted the Chargers an early lead.  However, the Lynx settled down and shortly before half time Lauren Heger got onto the end of a teasing cross from Claire Webb to tie the game.  Moments later heger almost gave the Lynx the lead when she hit the woodwork twice in a matter of seconds.  A slow start to the second half saw the Chargers take the lead again.  The Chargers defended well in the second half and it took a fine individual effort from Lauren Hoover to force overtime.  Defending corner kicks had been the Lynx achilles heel all season and poor marking allowed the Loveland striker a free header in overtime.  The Chargers held on to win 3-2.



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The Lynx opened the FC Pride Cup in Indianapolis against CUSA Premier (Centerville, OH). The Lynx dominated the early going and opened the scoring when Katie Mueller got onto the end of a Heather McNutt cross. The second goal came via some fine individual skill from Rachel Gary who stole the ball, beat two CUSA defenders and played a perfect through ball to Mueller who claimed her second goal. CUSA didn't quit and early in the second half the Lynx inability to clear the ball from defense led to a CUSA goal. However, the Lynx had the perfect answer as straight from the kick off Claire Webb took the ball down the wing and fired in a cross which was deflected by a CUSA defender for an own goal. In the closing minutes, Lauren Hoover and Brooke Mauro added a goal apiece to secure a 5-1 victory. The Lynx got off to a rocky start against Waza FC (Livonia, Mi) falling behind twice in the first half. Each time Lauren Heger drew the Lynx level with two long distance goals. Eventually the Lynx settled down, running out comfortable 8-2 winners with 2 goals each for Heather McNutt and Lauren Hoover and a goal each from Claire Webb and Brooke Mauro. Sunday morning saw the Lynx needing a tie against Carmel Academy (Indianapolis, In) to reach the final. The Lynx totally dominated the first half with their defense not allowing Carmel a single shot on goal. The Lynx hit the woodwork twice and had several other shots go inches wide. Unfortunately, this wasn't to be the Lynx day as half way through the second half Carmel scored on a break away with their first shot of the game. The Lynx continued to push forward but could not force the equalizer. Having played so well this was a tough 1-0 loss for the girls.

The Lynx had a successful labor day weekend in Dayton, making it as far as the semi-finals of the Mead CUSA Cup before being eliminated by the eventual champion Carmel United Academy. The Lynx kicked off their tournament against the Genesee Stars. The Michigan team started well and took the lead after 10 minutes. The Lynx struggled to find their rhythm until Claire Webb tied the score from 30 yards out. Two more goals from Heather McNutt and Katie Mueller gave the Lynx a 3-1 half time lead. In the second half, only a great display by he GSSC goal keeper kept the Lynx in check. Eventually Lauren Hoover added a 4th goal from the penalty spot to round out a 4-1 win. Saturday afternoon saw a comfortable 5-0 victory over Thoroughbreds SC (Kentucky), with Krisyn Hatke, Lauren Hoover (2), Cailyn Wachtel and Amy Dean scoring the goals. Sunday saw a very disappointing display from the Lynx. They struggled on a small field and the Westside Extreme showed much greater desire. The Lynx played very poorly, concede two penalty kicks in the 0-3 defeat. Despite the loss, the Lynx made the semi-finals as the best runner up in the 3 groups. They faced the Carmel United Academy (Carmel, In) who had scored an impressive 27 goals in their 3 group games. The Lynx took the game to Carmel early and came close to taking the lead when Lauren Hoover hit the cross bar. However, a mistake by the Lynx defense gave Carmel the lead on their first serious attack of the game. The Lynx continued to have the upper hand in possession and Hoover again hit the wood work in the second half. Eventually, Carmel added a second goal on a perfectly struck free kick from just outside the Lynx penalty area to secure a 2-0 victory. Carmel United went on to beat the GSE Cardinals 4-3 in the final.

After consecutive runner up finishes at the Arsenal Challenge Cup in 2004 & 2005 the Lynx proved that "third time's a charm" by winning the final in 2006.
The opening game saw the Lynx record a 2-1 victory over SC Alliance (Sidney, OH).  Although the Lynx dominated possession for the entire game, they struggled to find the back of the Shelby County net.  Lauren Hoover gave the the Lynx an early lead, but a defensive lapse allowed SC Alliance to equalize just before half time.  After the break, the Lynx squandered several goal scoring opportunities before a fine individual effort from Makinna Patrick resulted in the game winner.
Both teams suffered in the stifling heat in the Indy Burn game.  Cailyn Wachtel pounced on a Claire Webb through ball to give the Lynx an early lead.  However, Indy Burn struck back and the teams went into half time tied at one each.  The game remained tied until the Lynx got a lucky break when Lauren Heger returned a goalie punt from 40 yards for a goal.  However, there was nothing lucky about the third goal.  Lauren Hoover crossed a free kick from outside the penalty area and Katie Mueller applied a glancing header past the stunned Indy Burn defense, making the final score was 3-1.
The game against Warren County Blue followed a similar pattern in the first half, with the Lynx playing excellent defense, controlling possession, but struggling to finish.  However, in the second half the Lynx offense clicked with goals from Wachtel, Hoover, Heather McNutt & Rachel Gary.  The final score was comfortable 4-0 win.
Having lost in the final for two consecutive years the Lynx were determined to go one better this time around.  To provide even further incentive, the Lynx played the reigning CUSL Premier champions Cincinnati Classics Hammer.  The Lynx produced maybe their most impressive 50 minutes of soccer to date.  Amy Dean, Madison Bridges, Rachel Gary and Heather McNutt played outstanding team defense, not allowing the Classics an open shot on goal the whole game.  Keeper Brooke Mauro commanded the penalty area, quickly gathering up any balls played into it.  Lauren Heger, Kristyn Hatke and Claire Webb won the battle in midfield, using the possession gained to launch numerous attacks.  Up front, Cailyn Wachtel, Lauren Hoover, Makinna Patrick and Katie Mueller created many goal scoring opportunities, but couldn't quite break down the stubborn Classics defense.  The coaches were preparing for over time when McNutt released Hoover with a great through ball.  Lauren faked right, cut left past the last defender and drove the ball past the keeper.  Twenty seconds later the final whistle blew and the Lynx had broken their ACC jinx.

The Lynx met CUSL rivals Cincinnati West Wildfire in the first game of their Miami Spring Classic title defense. The speed of the Wildfire offense gave the Lynx defense trouble all day and only a couple of outstanding saves by Katie Mueller prevented the Wildfire taking an early lead. The Lynx played some good soccer too, and took the lead when Danielle Acuna pounced on a rebound from a shot by Cailyn Wachtel. The second half was evenly matched until the Wildfire scored two quick goals on breakaways. The last few minutes saw the Lynx constantly attacking the Wildfire goal, with Lauren Heger coming closest to scoring, but the Wildfire hung on for a 2-1 victory. The Lynx's second game against COSA Express saw Lauren Hoover ruin the Columbus team's day with a hat trick in the first 10 minutes of the game. The Lynx went on the cruise to a dominant win, not allowing the Express a shot on goal until the final minute of the game. Further goals from Makinna Patrick and Kristyn Hatke and an own goal gave the Lynx a 6-0 victory. The Lynx met the MTSC Blue Streak in their final pool game and played their best soccer of the Spring season to date. The Lynx created several good scoring opportunities in the first half and Cailyn Wachtel gave the Lynx a one goal half time lead. Most of the second half was played in Blue Streak territory with Lauren Hoover scoring a fine individual goal and Katie Mueller converting a penalty after a hand ball. Several other Lynx came came very close to scoring, most noticeably Lauren Heger, Rachel Gary and Claire Webb, before the Blue Streak scored a late consulation goal. The Lynx finished tied for first place in their pool with the Cincinnati West Wildfire, but despite the Lynx having a superior goal difference, the Wildfire advanced on the head-to-head rule to play the GSE Cardinals in the final.