Chieftains win 2 of last 3 games
The Tonganoxie boys soccer team lost its final match of the regular season, 3-2, in overtime against Bishop Ward on Thursday at Chieftain Park.
Opportunities were there for the Chieftains, who won two of their last three games after starting the season 0-13.
Tonganoxie had a penalty kick after sophomore Tanner Newman received a pass near the goal. As Newman attempted his shot, a Bishop Ward player pulled Newman down by his jersey. Since the foul occurred inside the box, THS received a penalty kick.
Sophomore Kenny Schultz attempted the penalty kick with the game tied at two in overtime. THS coach Ken Lott couldn’t watch — literally.
“I was too nervous to watch,” Lott said. “I looked at the coaches faces to see what happened. From that, I knew we missed it.”
Bishop Ward took advantage.
About a minute after the penalty kick, Ward put the game away with a goal.
“We hung our heads for a second and that’s when they took advantage of it,” Lott said. “It was a lack of focus more than anything else.”
Sophomore Tyler Woolworth put the Chieftains ahead, 1-0, in the first half. The Cyclones scored twice before the intermission and took a 2-1 lead into the half. Schultz tied the game at two with 15 minutes remaining.
Before the game, seniors Erick Lowe, Josh Nowasell, Tyler Sparks and Austin Koontz were recognized with their parents.
Tonganoxie 4, Eudora 2 (Oct. 10)
Tonganoxie scored four goals in roughly 14 minutes in its 4-2 victory against Eudora on Oct. 10 at Chieftain Park.
The make-up game was Tonganoxie’s most impressive victory of the season. THS blanked Immaculata two days earlier, but neither team had won a game all year.
When the halftime buzzer sounded against Eudora, THS was in a familiar position. The Chieftains trailed the Cardinals, 1-0. In the majority of their home games, the Chieftains kept deficits respectably close at halftime. They often fell behind several goals and had let games get out of hand in the final 40 minutes of games, though.
Not this time.
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, who scored twice for THS.
Puthoff hadn’t scored a goal all season. In fact, he doesn’t even start. Again, Oct. 10 wasn’t a typical soccer scene at Chieftain Park.
“I don’t even know,” Puthoff said, laughing, when asked what was so different about the second half. “Our defense was doing a lot better, though. The first 20 minutes, they seemed to always have the ball. After that, we didn’t let them do that.”
Sophomore Mitch DeHoff scored the go-ahead goal with 17:59 remaining.
“We started going to the ball,” DeHoff said. “Everyone was moving to where they were supposed to be and we just got some shots to go into the goal.”
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.
THS won’t know its regional assignment until Saturday. The Chieftains will play either Oct. 22 or Oct. 23, most likely on the road.