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Soccer tallies first win

By Shawn Linenberger - | Sep 10, 2003

The Chieftains have cracked the win column.

After enduring losses against Mill Valley (2-0) and Bonner Springs (3-1), Tonganoxie claimed its first victory of the season Thursday in a 1-0 win against Basehor-Linwood at Chieftain Park.

With 3:48 left in the game, Tonganoxie took a shot at the Bobcats goal, but it was off the mark. On the rebound, though, Brad Willis’ header slipped past the BLHS goalie and Tonganoxie had their victory minutes later.

“It was the best feeling I’ve felt,” Willis said. “It was bad.”

The Chieftains moved surprisingly quickly after an injury timeout stopped play moments earlier.

Junior Travis Schultz went down at the 4:02 mark, and eventually was helped off the field.

When the game resumed, the Chieftains needed fewer than 20 seconds to score the winning goal.

Offensive statistics indicated that the Chieftains should have had a more dominating performance than a 1-0 shutout.

Tonganoxie was aggressive with the ball, taking 20 shots on the goal — 12 in the second half. The Bobcats, meanwhile, had none in the first half and just six in the second.

But the Bobcats countered Tonganoxie’s firepower with a young roadblock as sophomore goalie Zach Lowe logged 16 saves against the Chieftains. Lowe registered 18 the week before against defending Kaw Valley League champion Mill Valley in a 4-0 defeat.

With both teams searching for a win, the Chieftains, finally found theirs.

“In any sport you can’t go too long without winning,” said first-year THS coach Luke Denney.

Denney said his team still needed to clean up some mistakes, but the effort is evident.

After Thursday, the coach wants to work on what to do with all of those shots on goal.

“When we’re right in front of the goal, we don’t have to kill it, just put it away,” Denney said.

Friday’s practice was all about shooting as the Chieftains prepared for Tuesday’s matchup with heated rival Lansing on the Lions’ field.

Thursday, Tonganoxie takes on Perry-Lecompton. Game reports from both contests will appear in next week’s edition of The Mirror.