Late goals lift Wildcats in overtime

Louisburg sophomore Grant Ryals pumps his fists as teammates (from left) Noah Juarez, Hunter Mitchell, T.J. Svoboda and Cale Schneider mob him after Ryals scored the game-tying goal in the 78th minute in the Wildcats 2-1 overtime victory Monday in Louisburg.

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For 78 minutes, the Louisburg boys soccer team was staring at another gut-wrenching defeat.

The Wildcats have been a part of too many of them already this season – six to be exact. Down a goal with two minutes left in Monday’s home match with Heritage Christian, the Wildcats were in desperate need of one.

Sophomores Grant Ryals and Christian Scholtz were happy to oblige.

Ryals hit a shot in the 78^th minute that found the back of the net to force overtime. In the extra period, Scholtz answered with a goal of his own on a run down the left side of the field that gave the Wildcats a 2-1 victory.

“The kids played hard,” Louisburg coach Ben York said. “I kept telling them it was eventually going to come and we will get a goal. Grant tucked a nice shot away and put it right in the corner.

“We are learning how we work offensively. We are learning where we want to play certain balls and it is just trial by error for these guys. Typically you have those things ironed out before the season, but we will take it now. A few game here in the middle of the season have allowed us to do that.”

The Wildcats (3-6-1) have two victories and a tie in their last three matches and have been struggling to score goals. It was frustrating at times Monday for Louisburg as it peppered the Heritage goalie with nearly 20 shots on goal.

Seniors T.J. Svoboda, Parker Cates, junior Noah Juarez, along with Ryals and Scholtz, all had shots on goal throughout the game, but came up empty. Heritage Christian scored its lone goal with less than a minute left in the first half when a high-arching free kick from 40 yards out was placed just out of the reach of Louisburg goalie Michael Minster and gave it a 1-0 halftime lead.

The Wildcats had their best chance at a goal late in the second half when Heritage was called for a foul in the box. Juarez was awarded a penalty kick, but the Heritage goalie made the diving save to keep the Wildcats scoreless.

Then came the dramatics.

Ryals struck the ball near the top of the box that snuck past the outstretched hands of the Heritage goalie to tie the match in the 78^th minute to force overtime.

Heritage Christian gave the Wildcats a scare on a couple different occasions in overtime. Three minutes into the extra period, Heritage hit a free kick from 35 yards away that was heading for the corner of the net but Minster was able to knock it away.

Minster came up big again just minutes later as another Heritage shot on goal deflected off a player and the ball rolled to the line. The Louisburg goalie dove to make the save just before it reached the line.

Defenders Jairus Brown, Scott Murphy, Cale Schneider and Hunter Mitchell all made big slide tackles at times to relieve some of the Heritage pressure.

“We are still in the game because Michael makes an extremely athletic play that most goalkeepers don’t make,” York said. “The one shot from 35 yards out was heading for the upper 90 and Michael did what Michael does. He saved a goal right there. He really excited the guys through his play. He is one of the more athletic guys on our team and he was able to redeem himself a little bit.”

Nine minutes into overtime, Scholtz added a little flair of his own as he used his left foot to send a rocket shot that found the corner of the net and gave the Wildcats the 2-1 victory.

“Christian had a real good game,” York said. “I put him in a different spot offensively that has allowed him to have more touches on the ball and more freedom to move. He has a wicked left foot and he leads our team with eight goals this year. It was good to see him get a solid shot on goal. That keeper thought he was going far post and he went near post and the keeper couldn’t move.”

The Wildcats will go for their third straight victory Thursday when they travel to Paola and they hope to redeem a loss from earlier in the season.

“We are going into Paola’s game with good confidence and I know that we can win,” York said. “I also know that if we make silly mistakes that we can concede silly goals to Paola as well and that has already happened. So we just need to play smart and finish our shots which I know we can do.”

 

Louisburg downs Bonner Springs

Louisburg was able to get its first win since the beginning of the season last Thursday when it traveled to Bonner Springs.

The Wildcats were able to get a late first half goal which gave them the momentum they needed to pull away for a 3-1 victory over the Braves.

Raistlin Brewer gave the Wildcats their first goal of the game late in the first half when he headed the ball into the net on a cross and Louisburg took a 1-0 lead into halftime.

Senior T.J. Svoboda came through in the second half for Louisburg. Svoboda scored in the opening minute and tacked on another goal 20 minute later to put the game away.

“The game against Bonner Springs was more of an accurate representation of what type of team we actually are,” York said. “It was more of a normal setting for us because we were able to play under the lights with junior varsity playing first. They were amped up and when it came down to it, we were the better team and we were able to finish. I thought we played very well.”

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