The Lady Cadets (0-5, 0-2 Monon) returned to their Monon Conference schedule when they traveled to Crawfordsville to play the Lady Athenians. The Lady Athenians were the 2025 Monon Conference champions and they handled the injury ladened Cadets easily last season 9-0. The recent IHSAA Sectional realignment has placed Cascade and Crawfordsville both in Sectional 27. With good team speed, a better offensive rhythm, and the best player on the field, the Lady Athenians scored frequently in the first half and put the game away early. The Lady Cadets did the best they could to counter the offensive flow of Crawfordsville but clean passing across the turf field brought shots that were easily struck into the Cadets goal by the Athenians elite striker. The Cadets did show better play when they had possession of the ball but the speed of the Athenians’ defensive unit hampered the Cadets ability to finish their offensive patterns. The one bright spot for Cascade was the fact that they were able to stave off an anticipated 9-0 mercy game. The IHSAA passed mercy rules for most sports back in 2022 and the mercy rule applies in soccer when a team has a nine or more goal lead in the last 20:00 of the second half. If a team’s lead is equal to or greater than nine goals in those last 20:00 minutes of the game, the game ends. When Crawfordsville scored their 8th goal at about 28:00 minutes remaining in the game, the Lady Athenians looked poised to get a second mercy rule victory of the season. In those last 28:00 minutes of the game, the Athenians made plenty of attempts to get that ninth goal but the Cadets held their own and prevented that last goal being scored. A tough night on the scoreboard for the Lady Cadets was emotionally reversed in the team’s effort to prevent that ninth goal being scored. The Cadets walked off the field with good enthusiasm and positive excitement from that small accomplishment. The 8-0 loss for the Cadets (0-6, 0-3) unfortunately extends their losing streak from the start of their season. The combined losing streak now stands at 19 games going back to last season. The Lady Athenians’ victory improves their record to 4-2-1 and keeps them tied for the conference lead in victories (3-0 Monon). Both schools will have a short rest and then play again on Thursday, September 10th. The Lady Athenians will host Bethesda Christian and the Lady Cadets host the Lady Vikings of West Vigo High School. The start time for the Cadets home game will be 6:00 p.m. Game Summary 1H 2H Final Cascade 0 0 0 Crawfordsville 6 2 8 Goals/Assists: