AMES — After a scoreless first half, Hudson decided it was time to get serious during its Class 1A Iowa high school girls soccer tournament quarterfinal against Des Moines Christian on June 3.
The Pirates broke a scoreless tie three minutes into the second half. Then they scored again…and again…and again…and again.
Hudson ended up cruising to a 5-2 victory over the Lions to advance to face No. 1 Denver in the 1A semifinals on June 5.
“The second half, it was rainy, but we really worked together as a team,” said Hudson forward Taylor Davis. “We passed, we moved to get it wide, and we really worked to get it wide and then crossing it.”
She put the Pirates up 3-0 on a breakaway goal five minutes later. Then the Pirates scored their fourth goal of the half in just 15 minutes when Davis assisted Claire Stickfort on a goal.
Davis was the star during Hudson’s big run. The sophomore pushed her season goal total to 51 goals after finding the back of the net three times against the Lions.
Davis got an assist on Hudson’s first goal when she found Avery Ubben, who scored in traffic to break the ice for the Pirates. Less than five minutes later, Davis netted her first goal off a ball from Tayler Junker.
Davis finished her hat-trick with a goal at the 64:32 mark to give the Pirates an insurmountable 5-0 lead.
“Honestly, I just realized I did have a hat-trick,” Davis said right after the game. “It was all my team. My team helps me get those goals.”
Davis said she is looking forward to facing Denver in the semifinals on June 5. Denver defeated Underwood, 5-3, in the quarterfinals on June 3.
“We’re going to work our hardest,” Davis said. “Hopefully, we can get them.”
Des Moines Christian finished its season with a record of 13-4-3. DMC coach Jaime Price was impressed with what Hudson brought in the second half.
“They (Hudson) have some really strong offense and they got a couple on us,” Price said. “Then we needed to pull one of our center-backs to try and score some goals and they capitalized on that.”
But the Lions did not roll over after falling behind by five goals. They fought until the end.
Addison Price got DMC on the board. Hallie Evans followed with another goal to give the Lions a fighting chance at the end.
“I’m proud of them for that,” Price said. “That’s been this team all season long.”
Joe Randleman covers high school sports for the Ames Tribune. Contact him at jrandleman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JoeRandleman
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Taylor Davis powers Hudson past DMC in Iowa girls state soccer tournament
Reporting by Joe Randleman, Des Moines Register / Ames Tribune
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