Kougars sit atop Northwest Crossroads Conference with win over Highland

WHEATFIELD | The much-anticipated Northwest Crossroads Conference showdown between The Times No. 5 Highland and No. 6 Kankakee Valley on Tuesday didn't live up to its marquee billing, but that's OK for the host Kougars.

K.V. (5-2, 3-0) dominated Highland 4-1, as Hannah Wilder scored two goals and had an assist to lead the Kougars attack.

Natalie Lotz added a goal just 1:20 into the second half to give K.V. a 3-1 advantage. Hannah Klemp knocked in a deflected shot by Wilder into the back of the net to put the game away with 9:51 left.

"It doesn't surprise me that we played as well as we did, but I was glad to see it," Kougars coach John Hufnagel said. "That's a complete of performance as we've had all year.

"This isn't just a good game, that's a good team. They're capable of playing like that every night."

Highland coach Gordon Walker said his team was outplayed and outhustled and lacked focus.

"It's like we didn't get off the bus," he said. "We just didn't come to play. You can't play that way against good programs. It's that simple."

K.V. owned a 17-13 shots on goal advantage, while Highland (3-3, 2-1) was whistled for three fouls to K.V.'s one.

"It was amazing. I was so happy," Lotz said.

After Wilder scored her first goal less than 10 minutes into the contest, Highland's Michelle Geissler got the equalizer with 13:55 remaining in the first half. Wilder answered four minutes later on an assist from Lotz to put K.V. up 2-1 at the half.

"Our team stepped up, and I think our mids did a wonderful job," Wilder said. "Natalie Lotz played her heart out, and she deserves that."

K.V. junior Jen Sobierajski said preparation was key.

"We knew if we played how we know we can play and give it our all, we can be great," she said.

With the win, K.V. controls its own destiny in the NCC.

"There's no easy games in this conference, but we've got to keep pushing and keep playing the way we did tonight, and maybe some really good things could happen for these kids," Hufnagel said.