Winless streak over for Chieftain soccer team

Justin Nutter
Shyanne Gergick scored her first goal of the season in Tonganoxie High's 3-1 win over Bishop Ward.
Despite forcing overtime in Monday’s game at Piper, the Tonganoxie High girls soccer team couldn’t break into the win column. As it turns out, though, its first victory of the season was just one day away.
The Chieftains scored two unanswered goals in the second half to defeat Bishop Ward on Tuesday, 3-1.
“We played really well (Monday), so I felt like we deserved to win,” coach Justin Seever said. “We were due, so now we’ve just got to try to move forward.”
Three different players scored goals for the Chieftains (1-5-1), who opened the week with a 0-0 tie Monday against the Pirates.
THS, which managed just one goal in its first six games got on the board first when senior Shyanne Gergick scored with 27:20 left in the second half. Gergick broke free down the right side of the field and lobbed a shot over the Cyclone goalkeeper and into the net.
“I think it was Madison (Simmons) who passed it out wide, and I was looking for the cross,” Gergick said. “I hit it wrong, but it went in. I was really looking for a cross, but I’ll take it. It’s nice to get my first goal out of the way.”
Nearly 20 minutes elapsed without another goal, but Bishop Ward evened the score with 6:30 left until halftime. Lidise Calderon got by the Chieftain defense and scooted the ball by THS sophomore goalkeeper Emma Stilgenbauer to knot the score at 1-1.
Neither team found the net again before halftime.
Seever’s squad looked to quickly regain the lead after the break, but couldn’t capitalize on several scoring opportunities. With the score still tied midway through the second half, Seever replaced several starters with reserve players.
The move paid off when senior Lindsey Cox scored on a header with 13:02 left in the game. The Chieftains iced the game just 34 seconds later when freshman Morgan Galvin caught the goalkeeper out of position and tapped the ball into the net.
“The first 20 minutes of the second half, we should have come out fired up and tried to put this thing away,” Seever said. “We didn’t do anything we should be doing. I put the (reserves) in, and they had energy and wanted to play. They saved our butts today.”
The Chieftains will have nearly a week off before their next action. They’ll travel April 16 to Baldwin for their first-ever meeting with the Bulldogs. One day later, they’ll travel to Bishop Ward for a rematch.
“Now (our first win) out of the way and it’s time to keep progressing forward,” Gergick said. “I’m hoping over this next stretch, we’re going to get straight wins.”
First half scoring
27:20 — Shyanne Gergick (Tonganoxie)
6:30 — Lidise Calderon (Bishop Ward)
Second half scoring
13:02 — Lindsey Cox (Tonganoxie)
12:38 — Morgan Galvin (Tonganoxie)
- Shyanne Gergick scored her first goal of the season in Tonganoxie High’s 3-1 win over Bishop Ward.