CENTERVILLE — The goals will come. Tony Kurimski was certain of that.
The Albia sophomore needed less than seven minutes to produce her first career hat trick, finishing off a 4-0 South Central Conference win at Centerville. The three goals produced in just over six minutes matched the total number of goals that the Lady Dees had produced in the previous 473 minutes of the season.
"I'm really proud of her. That's a girl that plays all over the field for us," Kurimski said of Hafer. "She's kind of like our Swiss Army knife. If we need her on defense, we throw her on defense. If need her in the center, the mid spot or up at forward, she's willing to do whatever it takes to help our team."
Hafer's hat trick helped Albia break away as Centerville, despite allowing over 30 shots over the first 73 minutes, were holding on to a slim 1-0 lead. Ava Pfannebecker more than doubled her total number of saves for the season during the match, making 17 stops in the net for the Redettes.
"Ava does a really good job. She's the glue to our team," Centerville junior Brynlee Carney said. "It's nice knowing that if we miss a ball as a defensive line that Ava is going to be right there and going to get that ball more times than not."
"Ava's attitude is also amazing," Redette junior Addison Drew added. "She never complains about anything. She's gets on the ball, diving for it and doing whatever it takes to give us a chance to win."
Albia finished the first half owning a 16-2 advantage in shots, but could only push one ball past Pfannebecker in the opening 40 minutes. Morgan Beckwith, who finished with six shots in the match, adjusted to missed chances earlier in the early minutes connecting with 16:14 left in the half to give the Lady Dees a 1-0 lead.
"I had a couple of shots that didn't go in because my feet were turned out," Beckwith said. "On the goal, I turned my foot in and just laid it in there."
Zoe Entsminger led the Centerville girls with four shots in the match, making a pair of strikes that forced Albia goalie Madeline Van Loon to make lead-preserving saves in the second half. The lead for the Lady Dees remained in peril entering the final seven minutes of the second half when Hafer finally delivered a strike that gave Albia some breathing room, hammering a strike in the 74th minute that deflected across the goal line off Pfannebecker opening a 2-0 lead.
"I saw the ball go in, so I was just hoping the officials saw it too," Hafer said. "It would have been kind of rough if they hadn't counted it. That first goal got me really excited for the rest of the match. It let me know that I can do it."
Hafer's second goal was the highlight strike of the match. With less than two minutes left, the Lady Dee sophomore lofted a high strike that dropped over the head of Pfannebecker into the high corner of the net, giving Albia a 3-0 lead.
"I did not think that one was going in," Hafer said. "There were a lot of my teammates that were cheering for it. I always have my teammates behind me."
Hafer finished off the hat trick, and the match, by striking in a kick with 11 seconds left. The goal led to an immediate celebration with the Lady Dees surrounding their teammate congratulating Hafer on her career night.
"Even with a minute left on the clock, there's still time to go out and get one more goal," Hafer said. "It feels good, especially being on the line. I know what it's like to be on both offense and defense, so when the offense gets goals, it gives everyone the confidence that we can do it again. I just hope I brought that belief out of the rest of my teammates."
The win leaves Albia with an even 2-2-2 overall record, including a 2-0-2 South Central Conference mark heading into road tests this week at Clarke and Knoxville. Centerville (1-3, 0-1 SCC) is off until hosting Oskaloosa on Friday, followed by an early-morning start hosting Ottumwa, Grinnell and Keokuk in the Redette Classic starting a long day of activities on Saturday starting with opening kickoff at 7:30 a.m.
"We've got prom that night, so we're looking at being up for a good 24 hours," Drew said. "It's safe to say we'll all be dragging around here on Sunday."