After losing its first 13 games of the season, the Chieftains have now won two straight games.

Wednesday’s make-up game against Eudora was Tonganoxie’s most impressive victory of the season. THS blanked Immaculata 5-0 Monday, but neither team had won a game all year.

When the halftime buzzer sounded Wednesday, the Chieftains were in a familiar position. They trailed the Cardinals, 1-0. In the majority of their home games, the Chieftains have kept deficits respectably close at halftime. They’ve often fell behind several goals and have let games get out of hand in the final 40 minutes of games, though.

Not Wednesday.

Eudora actually led, 2-0, with 31:06 to go. Tonganoxie suddenly went on a scoring spree and couldn’t stop.

The Chieftains scored four goals in a span of 14 minutes and brought a sense of electricity to Chieftain Park no one had seen all year.

In the second half, Tonganoxie was faster to the ball than Eudora. And, when the Chieftains attempted shots, several teammates flocked toward the goal.

The strategy paid off for sophomore Preston Puthoff. With about 24 minutes remaining, sophomore Tanner Newman blasted a shot that had a chance of finding the back of the net. However, the shot clanked off the top crossbar. Puthoff followed the shot near the goal and smashed a header past Eudora’s goalkeeper to tie the game at two.

Puthoff scored THS’ first goal roughly three minutes earlier. The sophomore pounded a right-footed shot past the leaping EHS goalkeeper and into the top portion of the net.

Puthoff hadn’t scored a goal all season. He doesn’t even start. Again, Wednesday wasn’t a typical soccer scene at Chieftain Park.

Sophomore Mitch DeHoff scored the go-ahead goal with 17:59 remaining. The goal occurred off the rebound, much like Puthoff’s opportunity. DeHoff was farther away from the net, though. The sophomore saw the ball roll in front of him and kicked the ball in stride with authority. The momentum from DeHoff’s kick was a primary reason the ball flew past the Eudora defense and into the back of the net.

Newman scored the last THS goal for good measure with 13:33 remaining.

At 2-13, Tonganoxie has surpassed last season’s record of 1-15-1.

Tonganoxie will play its last regular-season game against Bishop Ward on Thursday. The game is set for 6 p.m. at Chieftain Park.

Check out the Oct. 17 edition of The Mirror for the full story.