No one epitomizes the Enforcers nickname more than Rylee Fuerst, as she stands tall on the back line, clearing any balls that enter her zone.

Fuerst’s defensive performance at the Kansas Cup on Saturday helped the 11U KSA Enforcers defeat the Topeka Aftershock, 3-1, at Youth Sports Inc. fields.

The philosophy of playing defense seems to be fairly simple for Fuerst.

“If you make a mistake, you need to come back and fix it, and then you just need to clear the ball out.” Fuerst said. “I think I did a pretty good job of that today.”

Midway through the first half, Fuerst did make a mistake, letting a Topeka attacker get a clear shot at the goal. As Enforcer goalkeeper Elena Auer came out of her box to make a play on the ball, Fuerst snuck onto the goal line. Auer mistimed her dive, and a shot was headed for the back of the Enforcers’ net, but Fuerst had already corrected her mistake and safely cleared the ball up field.

Forward Madeline Dieker helped out on the offensive side of the ball for the Enforcers. Dieker scored 10 minutes into the game using slick dribbling maneuvers to shoot around the Aftershock goalie.

The Aftershock made adjustments in their defense after allowing Dieker’s goal. They started using an offsides trap to penalize Dieker for being aggressive.

The offsides trap worked numerous times until Fuerst decided to get into an offensive mode.

Just before halftime, Fuerst cleared a ball from the back line that caught the Aftershock defenders off guard. The ball landed right at Dieker’s feet. She then turned around a defender, planted and fired a shot over the left shoulder of the goalie for her second goal of the game.

Fuerst said she rarely gets assists, but avoided taking too much credit for the goal. “I thought I did pretty good, but Madeline (Dieker) made a really good shot,” Fuerst said.

The rest of the Enforcers defense played solid soccer throughout the game with just one mental lapse. Early in the second half, the referee called a penalty on the Enforcers inside the 18-yard box. The Aftershock capitalized on the mistake and brought the score to 2-1 in favor of the Enforcers.

The Enforcers kept the offensive attack going with a goal by Anna Kleibhomer and the third goal by Dieker.

Enforcer goalkeeper Kylie Deaver played great in the net during the second half. The morning dew on the grass made the ball slippery and hard for the goalies to handle at times.

Rylee Fuerst Works against a Cavaliers defender in the Sunday finals of the 11U division of the Kansas Cup tournament at Youth Sports Inc.

Denver intercepted a ball that would have bounced off of her but because of the field conditions the ball skipped about five feet in front of her.

Denver reacted just in time to get a hand on the ball and ensure that the Enforcers would go home victorious.

The KSA Enforcers offensive attack helped them roll into the Sunday finals of the 11U division by going 2-1 in pool play. In the finals they met the Kansas City Qwest Cavaliers who managed to wage a defensive battle with the Enforcers. With 15 seconds remaining in the game Chelsea Casady put a penalty kick in the back of the net to give the Enforcers the first-place finish in the 11U division of the Kansas Cup.