Wildcats pull off big comeback in win over Baldwin

By Andy Brown
- Tweet
- Pin It
Updated: September 19, 2016

Andy Brown / Louisburg Sports Zone

Louisburg junior Grant Ryals passes the ball up the field during Thursday’s home contest with Baldwin. The Wildcats scored four unanswered goals to rally for a 4-3 win over the Bulldogs, including a goal from Ryals.

Down three goals with less than a half to play, the odds were certainly against the Louisburg High School boys soccer team.

The Wildcats were struggling during their home contest with Baldwin on Thursday and the Bulldogs, which had a below .500 record going in, had taken control of the game with a two goal lead at halftime and added another early in the second half.

Despite all that, Louisburg defied the odds and pulled off an improbable comeback. The Wildcats scored four consecutive goals in the second half to rally for a 4-3 win over Baldwin.

With the game tied late in the contest, junior Noah Juarez had a free kick at the top of the 18-yard mark and put it in the upper left portion of the net for the game winner. Just minutes earlier, Louisburg was fouled in the box and Juarez was awarded the penalty kick and tied the match.

Senior Noah Juarez heads the ball away during the Wildcats’ game with Baldwin on Thursday.

“After being down three goals, it could have been very easy to become selfish and give up, but the boys didn’t,” Louisburg coach Kyle Conley said. “I did love how our kids fought and played with such desired and passion. We showed the will to win and that was great to see.

“We really did not see much adversity yet this season and I was interested to see how we would respond. We just kept attacking and attacking. Sometimes you need to do the intangibles to find success and this was one of those nights.”

The Wildcats (4-1) chipped away at the Bulldog lead in the second half as senior Herman Knipp and junior Grant Ryals each had a goal to keep Louisburg in it.

Knipp received a through ball, dribbled past a Baldwin defender and shot it past the Baldwin goalkeeper to give Louisburg its first goal. Moments later, Ryals received a pass from Juarez, got his shoulders over the ball and found the back of the net.

“Herman and I have been working hard on learning the types of runs to make and this was the perfect run with a terrific pass to get us on the board,” Conley said. “Grant’s goal was a quality goal. At that point, the boys kept fighting and you could see they believed they had a chance to win and this is when they started to play much better.”

Following Ryals’ goal, the Wildcats controlled more of possession and the Louisburg defense stiffened up. All that set up Juarez’s heroics with the penalty kick and game-winning goal.

As much as the Wildcats were happy with the comeback win, they also realize they made it a little difficult on themselves with a slow start.

“To be quite honest, I feel we didn’t deserve to win that game at all,” Conley said. “Baldwin controlled the game and the pace of play for the majority of the game. As a team, we were flat and did not communicate. We were kind of just going through the motions. To win, let alone, get a positive result, we feel very fortunate.

“This should provide a great example that we can take nothing for granted. I believe they may have been looking at their record and we took something for granted. We had no emotion and were just going through the motions. I believe that this is a great example of what we can accomplish.”

The Wildcats hope to build on that momentum on what will be a busy week. Louisburg travels to Piper tonight to kickoff a stretch of three games in four days. The Wildcats will travel to Eudora on Tuesday and return home this Thursday when they host Bonner Springs.

“This week is going to show what we are made of,” Conley said. “It potentiality could be a great week or a tough week for us. These three games are going to be tough and we are going to have to work for everything. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

To view a photo gallery from the contest, make sure to click here.

De Soto hands Louisburg first loss

In what was its first loss of the season, the Louisburg boys soccer team never got a chance to mount a comeback thanks to Mother Nature.

Storms delayed the start of the Wildcats’ game at De Soto on Sept. 13 and the game was eventually called in the second half due to lightning.

Unfortunately for Louisburg, De Soto’s Ethan Rodriguez scored a goal with three minutes left in the first half to give his team 1-0 lead and that is how it finished. Since the two teams completed a full half, the game was considered official and will not be made up.