BonnerSprings.com

This year was rough at times for the Bonner Springs girls soccer team.

A two-win campaign can wear on a team's psyche and physical health. Injuries and small numbers made things tough. Although the team's bench looked as though it was an emergency room from time to time, the girls had fun and competed to the very end of each game.

Coach Mike Moulin repeatedly said that his squad was banged up all year, and he was right. Senior Alyssa Kelly, the Bravettes' leading scorer, began the year with her thigh wrapped in an ace bandage and ended it with an ankle injury and played through it all.

A limping Kelly said after the season-ending 3-0 Regional loss to Basehor-Linwood, "I was going to sit out, but you have to play in your last game, right? I just wasn't up to my full ability."

Late in the season in a game against Spring Hill, the Bravettes only had two players healthy enough to substitute in, while Spring Hill was subbing in four to five fresh players every 10 minutes.

Junior sweeper Amber Barnes, the Bravettes' fastest player, missed time due to a knee injury. Junior goalkeeper Tiffany Burgoon was knocked around all year long and is likely sitting in a tub of ice somewhere trying to get rid of all the bruises she obtained from errant kicks and body collisions.

The injury list went on and on for a program ending only its second year of competition. However, the young team did impress its coach by the end of the year.

"These girls played hard all year long despite all of the injuries," Moulin said. "I am very proud of them."

Kelly thought that the team has really come along.

"We are improving," she said. "You can see it on the field."

Next year Bonner Springs will return all but two players and hopefully add some depth with incoming student athletes. Losing seniors Jessica Hoglund and Kelly will hurt, though.

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