THS soccer opens with 4-0 loss
Shawnee ? Mill Valley soccer players figured the goals would happen against Tonganoxie on Friday, but that didn’t make scoring any easier in the 4-0 victory against the Chieftains.
Players were a bit jittery when the season opener kicked off at 6 p.m. Friday. They had numerous opportunities in the first 20 minutes of game, but just couldn’t convert.
Either the ball went wide of the goal or Tonganoxie goalie Erick Lowe made a save. Each block made Mill Valley players press a little more. Some jumped in the air and others just sighed as they continued to control the ball in Tonganoxie’s portion of the field.
“The boys were a little high strung in the first 15 to 20 minutes of the game,” Mill Valley coach Arlan Vomhof said.
Alex Linthicum settled everyone down by scoring the Jaguars’ first goal in the 21st minute. He attempted a penalty kick. After the goalie deflected it, he kicked the ball in for the goal.
Mill Valley scored again less than a minute later on a Spencer Nash goal.
Mill Valley scored another goal when Scott Van Kuiken scored in the 26th minute of the game.
It was the final goal of the first half, and gave Mill Valley a 3-0 lead.
At halftime, Tonganoxie assistant coach Doug Sandburg spoke to his goalie. He was pleased with the effort and wanted him to keep it up.
“Stay in the game,” he said. “Keep the ball out of the net and don’t give up.”
Lowe continued to battle in the second half. Tonganoxie didn’t score, but allowed just one more goal when Nash scored his second goal in the 52nd minute of the game.
Nash also ignited the Jaguars’ offense. He set teammates up for numerous scoring opportunities during the game and said younger players did a nice job of stepping up for the Jaguars.
Tonganoxie coach Ken Lott said he would have liked the game to be closer, but said Lowe did a nice job in net.
“Our goalie did a spectacular job of blocking things,” he said.
Mill Valley (1-0) finished the game with 18 shots on goal. Tonganoxie (0-1) had two.
The two teams each will play Kaw Valley League games on Monday. Mill Valley will play at Basehor and Tonganoxie plays Lansing on Monday and Mill Valley travels to Basehor-Linwood.