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THS soccer gets 2OT road victory

By Mirror Staff Reports - | Oct 10, 2011

Tonganoxie High’s boys soccer team earned its second double overtime victory of the season Thursday, winning 3-2 Thursday at Bishop Ward, in Kansas City, Kan.

Although the Chieftains couldn’t hold on to a two-score advantage on the road, they pulled off a win when junior Matt Saathoff laced a free kick from more than 25 yards out in the second overtime period.

The THS defense had just taken away the ball when one of the visitors was fouled. Saathoff took the free kick that followed and, as coach Brian Kroll put it, the forward put such a solid boot on the ball it would have hurt anyone in its path.

No one was injured, though, as Saathoff’s shot went around the Ward defense and caught the keeper off guard as the ball sailed into the upper 90 on the right side.

“He ripped that ball,” Kroll said.

That deciding goal came long after Tonganoxie (6-6-1) got out to an early 2-0 lead. Less than a minute had gone by in the match when Saathoff scored his first goal of the road win. Then, not two minutes later, forward John Lean put another score in the back of the net.

“It was all just possession,” Kroll said of the team’s early success. “They took the ball down the field and put it in.”

Eventually, the Cyclones got on the scoreboard with a long shot from about 35 yards out that just got over the hands of THS goalkeeper Keaton Truesdell.

“It was one of those one in a million type shots,” Kroll said.

In the second half, Ward tied the match at 2 as Tonganoxie struggled to capitalize on its chances. The second-year Chieftains coach said Lean, Saathoff and sophomore Evan Stilgenbauer all had a few really good looks.

“We had so many opportunities to score and we just didn’t,” Kroll said.

The road team recovered, though, after the conclusion of the second half. THS is now 2-0-1 in double overtime matches this season.

At 4 p.m. Monday, Tonganoxie plays host to Turner.