Tonganoxie High boys soccer wins pair of nailbiters, moves to 2-0-1
Jim MItchell photo
Tonganoxie High boys soccer team members hoist THS freshman Mason Sparks into the air Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, at Beatty Field. Sparks scored the winning goal against Maranatha Christian Academy and THS won, 2-1.Tonganoxie High boys soccer notched its first victories of the season this week.
THS defeated Maranatha Christian Academy, 2-1, on Tuesday at home and then got a road victory Thursday at Lansing, 3-2.
In the match at home against the Eagles, Thaddeus Hileman scored the first goal with an assist from Atlas Lungu.
Mason Sparks scored what would be the game-winner against MCA.
Jim Mitchell
Tonganoxie High sophomore goalie Ivan Franko defends the north goal at Beatty Field during a match Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, at Beatty Field. THS eventually won the match, 2-1, against Maranatha Christian Academy.
In the match against the Lions on Thursday, the Chieftains’ first two goals were courtesy of Thaddeus Hileman. Pavell Levya assisted Hileman on the first goal and then Jaxon Albert won the ball in the box for a penalty kick that Hileman successfully converted on the penalty kick.
The match went into overtime knotted at 2, but Rezik Morando scored the winning goal in overtime on an assist from Leyva.
Tonganoxie is now 2-0-1 on the season and is off to a good start, according to coach Jon Orndorff.
“We are grinding out games to start the season as we learn to work together, learn new positions and continue to learn the new formation we are running this season,” Orndorff said. “The freshmen are stepping up in big ways and pushing this team forward and helping make all the guys better everyday.”
Both game-winning goals came from freshmen.
Next up for THS is Bishop Miege (3-0) in Tonganoxie. The match is set to start at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Beatty Field. The first Frontier League clash of the year is two days later at 6 p.m. Sept. 10 against Eudora (1-1) at Beatty Field.