Photo Courtesy of MP Sports Social Media (Nicole Miller)

The outcome was worth the wait Thursday in Wellman for the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk girls soccer team as they downed the Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union Wildcats 2-1 in a penalty kick shoot out. The Hawks got a first half goal from Elise Gingerich to take a 1-0 lead into the break. Ten minutes into the second half, Columbus equalized on a goal from Lecet Quiroz and the two teams stayed locked at one through the rest of regulation and a pair of extra periods. Mid-Prairie won the penalty kick shoot out, finding the back of the net four times on shots from Lydia Beachy, Evangeline Marner, Emily Curtiss and the clincher from Kyla Karnes. Serving her first series in goal, Karnes was also the winning keeper on the defensive side of the shoot out as only Naveiah Garza and Frannie Sosa converted their PKs for the ‘Cats. After the match, Karnes joined KCII Sports to talk about her role on both sides of the shoot out and win. Karnes said, “It was my first time in goal. They missed the first two. I had to read the ball and their eyes or pick a side. I feel pretty confident taking PKs. I do PKs almost every day after practice and get it to the corners, so I felt like it was going to be pretty easy to kick. When I kicked it, it felt amazing. I was like ‘yeah, that’s going in! All the way!’ I was screaming to my teammates ‘Yes! Let’s Go!’ It felt good to get a win in the home opener.”

With the victory, the Golden Hawks are now 2-1 this season and will travel to Monticello Tuesday. The Wildcats fall to 1-2 with a match Thursday at Mediapolis.