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THS unable to cash in on opportunities

By Eric Sorrentino - | Oct 3, 2007

As Kenny Schultz broke away from the defense, it appeared the only player stopping him from a goal was Lansing goalkeeper Josh Wepking.

Lansing had an extra defender it didn’t know about — the sun. Schultz had good power on his shot, but the best Tonganoxie opportunity to score ended up in the hands of Wepking.

Tonganoxie couldn’t capitalize on opportunities in its 5-0 loss Monday against Lansing at Chieftain Park.

“I tried to play it off the inside of my right foot and to the right of him,” Schultz said of the breakaway opportunity. “When it hit the grass and bounced up, I hit it and it went right to him. It was kind of hard to see, too, because the sun was low and in my face.”

Tonganoxie kept the game close for the first 40 minutes and only trailed 1-0 at halftime. Lansing drilled Tonganoxie, 10-0, on Sept. 4, so to be within a goal at halftime showed progress. The Sept. 4 game at Lansing was called early because of the mercy rule.

No mercy rule went into effect Monday night, but Lansing controlled the game, particularly in the second half.

With 28:10 remaining in the game, Clayton Hall gave Lansing a 2-0 lead with a memorable goal. With the ball close to Tonganoxie’s goal, THS junior Austin Smith tried to clear the ball away from the net. Smith misjudged the kick and the ball sailed in the air, still near the THS goal. Hall sprinted toward the ball and timed its descent perfectly in time to rip a header into the back of the net.

The Lions sealed the victory a minute later when the officials gave THS senior goalkeeper Erick Lowe a yellow card for pushing a Lansing player in the box. Hall capitalized on the penalty kick and blasted the shot into the left side of the net for a 3-0 lead.

“More or less, that was in retaliation for the last couple of times they were in the box, Erick went up for the ball and they undercut him, took his legs out from underneath him, he lost the ball and they scored a goal,” THS coach Ken Lott said. “I’m sure he was looking for a little bit of payback, which is not right because you lose your head, but that’s what happened.”

Lansing’s Ben Hancock gave THS fits and scored a hat trick. He had the first LHS goal and the final two.

Tonganoxie dropped to 0-12 on the season. The Chieftains will look for their first victory Wednesday at Baldwin and Thursday at home versus Eudora.

“We’re getting there,” Lott said. “The kids are seeing it, but not acting upon it yet. We’re getting opportunities, and I’m happy with that. I’d be happier if we put the ball in the net, but I’m happy that we’re getting into that position where we can take those shots. We didn’t have any of those in the first couple of games.”

Scoring summary

First half
Lansing, 20:27, Ben Hancock goal (0-1)
Second half
Lansing, 28:10, Clayton Hall goal (0-2)
Lansing, 27:07, Hall goal (0-3)
Lansing, 24:32, Hancock goal (0-4)
Lansing, 19:59, Hancock goal (0-5)