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Regionals next week for Tonganoxie soccer; Barnes steps down as coach

By Shawn Linenberger - | Oct 20, 2021

Tonganoxie High boys soccer held its own against Baldwin this past week amid a coaching change.

THS fell to Baldwin, 1-0, Thursday at Beatty Field. After a scoreless first half, the Bulldogs eventually scored and then held on.

A few days earlier, the school board approved head coach Michael Barnes’ resignation as both boys and girls soccer coach.

THS assistant Mandi Duggan continues to coach the team with help from former head coach Jon Orndorff, who coached the Chieftains the past four seasons on the boys side before stepping down with a family move to Nebraska. Orndorff also helped Barnes in the spring in Barnes’ first year leading the girls program. Barnes replaced Justin Seever as girls coach.

Against Baldwin, THS had nine shots on goal, but just couldn’t convert. Lukas Parizek had the most shots on goal with four. Brenan Kuzmic had three shots on goal, while Jackson McWilliams and Daniel Zesati had one each. McWilliams also had 14 saves while allowing the one goal in the second half.

THS fell to 3-3-1 in Frontier League play and 7-6-1 overall with the loss to Baldwin, which improved to 6-1-1 and 9-2-1.

THS played at home on Senior Night against Seaman (4-10) on Tuesday at Beatty Field after The Mirror’s print deadline.

The Chieftains finish the regular season with a 6 p.m. match Thursday at Eudora against the Cardinals (11-2-1 and 5-1-1).

Regional pairings will be announced this weekend, with the postseason to start next week.

Parizek leads the team in shots on goal (21) and is tied with Zesati for most points (26).

Kuzmic leads the team in shots (39), with Parizek (35) and Zesati (32) close behind. Kuzmic also leads the team in assists (11).

McWilliams has 161 saves on the year so far.

Kuzmic ranks second in the state in assists, with Augusta’s Payton Ball and Harmon’s Manny Friday leading the list with 13 each.

McWilliams leads the state in goalkeeper saves with 161, just ahead of Mulvane’s Alex Dial with 158.