A straight-ahead shot, however, sailed well over the PLHS goal.

In overtime, however, Willis made a precision shot from the left side that put Willis and his teammates in a frenzy as they pulled off a 2-1 victory against the Kaws.

“It was right there in the upper 90,” Willis explained. “I got a perfect pass from Kirk (Rodell).

“All I could hear from Kirk was ‘Kick it! Kick it!'”

Willis obeyed his teammate.

With Perry-Lecompton senior goalie Willie Maderos-Treaster standing on the left front side of the goal. Willis lined a perfect shot that zipped just to the left of Maderos-Treaster and curved into the net.

The victory pushed the Chieftains to 3-4-1 on the year with the home win.

With senior defender Jake McGhee unable to play because of a college visit, THS coach Luke Denney called on junior Micah Titterington to fill his spot.

Denney said Titterington played well as the Chieftains had their best “team” effort of the season.

Goalie Shane Gober and defender Robert Kirch also turned in strong performances as the Chieftains prevented PLHS standout Ryan Guffey from scoring.

“They played smart and they played hard,” Denney said.

Tonganoxie scored first on Kirk Rodell’s unassisted goal in the 13th minute of the first half.

The Chieftains held the lead until the sixth minute of the second half. Perry’s Nick Richter put a shot past Gober as the Kaws knotted the game at one goal apiece.

Rodell had a shot in the 12th minute head for the goal, but Maderos-Treaster leaped straight up and snagged the apparent goal.

Tonganoxie had 26 shots on goal to Perry-Lecompton’s 19. Tonganoxie outshot Perry-Lecompton in both halves. In the overtime, both teams had three shots on goal.

Both Gober and Maderos-Treaster had 15 saves apiece as goalies.

Perry-Lecompton was whistled for 14 fouls to Tonganoxie’s seven.

The Chieftains played Tuesday in Ottawa and will be home Thursday against Basehor-Linwood. The junior varsity game will begin at 4:30 p.m., but because BLHS has a player shortage for junior varsity, the game will have 20-minute halves instead of 40. The varsity game, regularly scheduled for 6 p.m., likely would start at 5:30 p.m.

Bonner Springs 2, Tonganoxie 1

Tonganoxie was ready to avenge its season-opening loss to Bonner Springs with a rematch in Tonganoxie last week.

A heartbreaker in the final three minutes of the game, however, helped Bonner Springs to a regular-season sweep of the Chieftains.

With the scored tied at one, Tonganoxie averted plenty of shots on goal. The Braves had 23 shots on goal to Tonganoxie’s 13, but Gober denied most Bonner Springs shots.

Except for one.

That late goal somehow slipped past two Chieftain defenders and past Gober. It was a strange play that prevented Tonganoxie from getting back to .500 on the season. Denney shook the play off and commended his goalie.

“He was on fire,” Denney said. “He played great. I was proud of him.

“He’s been off and on. He didn’t play last year. He’s trying to find his groove.”

Tonganoxie 10, Eudora 0

The Chieftains erupted against the Cardinals on Sept. 21 in Eudora.

THS scored early and often as Tonganoxie’s scoring string forced the game to be called in the second half because of the mercy rule.

The teams will meet again Oct. 19 in Tonganoxie in the Chieftains’ final home game and regular-season finale.