Chieftain girls win first Sr. Night
The inaugural Tonganoxie High girls soccer Senior Night will forever have a “W” next to it in the record books.
Tonganoxie slipped past Ottawa, 3-2, Thursday on a rain-soaked field at Chieftain Park.
Tonganoxie opened a 1-0 lead when Sarah Flaherty scored on an assist from Alexa Moreno. The goal came with 12:53 left in the first half.
THS padded its lead with five minutes left before halftime when Ashli Koch assisted Sydney Bennett for another goal and a 2-0 lead.
The Chieftains would need those goals in the second half.
Ottawa scored with 28:40 left in the game and found the net again at the 15-minute mark. Ottawa’s Danielle Stevenson scored both goals for OHS.
Suddenly, the Cyclones were in business and Tonganoxie faced the potential of having to play into overtime or worse, watch OHS storm back for a come-from-behind victory.
Despite some close calls, neither of those scenarios played out.
Cally Owsley scored a goal off her knee, thanks to an assist by Moreno with 13:22 left in the contest.
The Chieftains held on for the win and improved to 5-6 on the season, while the Cylcones fell to 3-10. The loss snapped a two-game winning streak for Ottawa.
“I don’t like to be up and have them come back and tie it up, but those are the breaks of the game,” THS coach Ken Lott said. “We tend to like to make it exciting, I guess.”
Regardless, Lott still was proud of his team.
“We do have the ability to persevere,” Lott said. “They responded to the challenge.”
Tonganoxie’s first goal came from an unlikely player. Flaherty, who has been accustomed to preventing goals rather than making them, moved from goalie to forward for Thursday’s game. Lindsay Gonser moved into the goalie position for the game.
“I wanted her to get some varsity time,” Lott said, referring to Gonser. “Sarah wanted to play in the field. I thought it would be a good opportunity.”
Tonganoxie had six seniors play in their final home games: Jessica Herrington, Bailey Wetta, Shannon Smith, Flor Flores, Crystal Jordan and Jennifer Wagner.