Wildcats one win away from regional title

By Andy Brown
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Updated: October 29, 2015

Louisburg senior Parker Cates tries to beat a Fort Scott player to a 50-50 ball Monday during the first round of the regional playoffs in Louisburg. The Wildcats knocked off No. 2 seed Independence on Tuesday and will play for the regional title Thursday in Coffeyville.

INDEPENDENCE, Kan. – The Louisburg High School boys soccer team is one step closer its goal of a regional championship.

The Wildcats, the No. 7 seed in the regional tournament, pulled off a big upset Tuesday when it ousted No. 2 Independence with a 3-1 victory at Independence High School.

With the win, the Wildcats are now in the regional championship game against No. 3 seed Coffeyville-Field Kindley. Coffeyville defeated No. 6 Paola in double overtime. Louisburg will travel to Coffeyville for a 4:30 p.m. start Thursday.

“Independence is a very skilled team and they played well, but this was a great win for us obviously,” Louisburg coach Ben York said. “It puts us in the regional title game and we are playing well right now. We are not the team that entered the tournament with a 4-10-2 record. We are a better team than that now. We just had a rough start to our season. I have always felt that we could play with anybody.”

The Wildcats (6-10-2) wasted no time proving that as they got on the board 20 minutes into the match. Senior T.J. Svoboda passed to fellow senior Parker Cates, who scored his first of two goals in the contest.

Defender Hunter Mitchell knocks the ball away from a Fort Scott player Monday in Louisburg.

A few minutes later, Independence tied the match on a lapse in the Wildcat defense, but Louisburg would respond.

Late in the first half, Louisburg scored on another give-and-go as Svoboda found junior Noah Juarez who struck the ball at the top of the box passed the Independence goalie. The Wildcats had a 2-1 lead at halftime.

“We did a lot better job of moving the ball around and we did a good job of getting good shots,” York said. “It was definitely one of our better games of the year. These guys know that it is win or go home and it is also nice to have everyone healthy and have our full lineup out there.”

Louisburg put the game away in the second half when sophomore Christian Scholtz took a shot on goal. The shot was saved, but Cates got the rebound and put the ball in the back of the net.

“It was great to see Parker get those two goals, and he also got two goals in the game against Fort Scott, so I am sure that is giving him some confidence right now,” York said. “He, and a lot of other guys were struggling to convert those opportunities but we have gotten a little better as of late.”

The Wildcats defense also picked up the slack as they allowed just the one shot on goal. Defenders Scott Murphy and Jairus Brown helped mark up on the Independence scoring threats and senior sweeper Cale Schneider also provided solid play as well.

Now, the Wildcats are hoping they can get that one more win when they get to Coffeyville Thursday that will put them into the state quarterfinals

“After doing a little bit of research, I think Coffeyville is pretty comparable team to Paola and a few other teams we have played,” York said. “We have every opportunity to go down there and get a win but we have to play well and I know the guys are excited about the opportunity.”

Wildcats roll Fort Scott

Just like in its season opener against Fort Scott, the Louisburg boys soccer team made quick work of the Tigers.

The Wildcats scored five goals in each half on their way to 10-0 victory in the first round of the regional playoffs Monday in Louisburg. The match was ended with six minutes left due to the 10-goal mercy rule.

It was a sluggish start, but once the Wildcats scored their first goal in the 27^th minute, the flood gates opened. Seniors Parker Cates and T.J. Svoboda, along with junior Noah Juarez, each scored two goals in the contest.

“The environment to this game was all about the first time we played them,” Louisburg coach Ben York said. “I think the guys had that in the back of their minds and that is why we got off to a little bit of a rough start. They were a little uptight to start, but I just let them figure it out and they were finally able to get going and we did a good job at putting some shots away.”

Cates put the Wildcats on the board first when Juarez put a shot on goal, it was saved, but Cates was there to put in the rebound. Sophomore Christian Schultz and Svoboda scored goals in the next two minutes to make it 3-0.

Raistlin Brewer and Juarez scored goals of their own to make it 5-0 at half. Five minutes into the second half, Cates found the back of the net for his second goal to continue the onslaught.

In the 45^th minute, Juarez had a ball come sharply back to him 40 yards away, and with the Fort Scott goalie away from the net, struck the ball to the empty goal for a 7-0 advantage.

The Wildcats had another nice goal in the 49^th minute when Brewer hit a cross into the box and Svoboda slid in between two Fort Scott defenders to get his second tally.