Wildcats shutout Bonner Springs to end busy week

By Andy Brown
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Updated: September 26, 2016

Andy Brown / Louisburg Sports Zone

Louisburg senior Herman Knipp puts a shot on goal Thursday against Bonner Springs in Louisburg. The Wildcats shutout Bonner Springs 4-0 to finish a span of three games in four days.

Three games in four days might make some teams a little weary, but for the Louisburg High School soccer team, it had plenty of gas left in the tank.

The Wildcats hosted Bonner Springs on Thursday and used a big second half to pull away for a 4-0 victory to get their second win on the week. Louisburg finished the long week with a 2-1 record and bounced back strong after a tough loss to Piper on Sept. 19 that started the stretch of games.

“I was a little concerned about how guys would handle this hectic week, especially playing Piper first because they are probably the best team we have faced so far this year,” Louisburg coach Kyle Conley said. “Plus we played the two games previous on turf and that is a big difference. At the same time. I think the boys held up well. I think we do enough fitness during practice to help prepare for this and they took good care of themselves. We actually looked like we were pretty fresh, which was a good thing.”

Louisburg (6-2) had plenty of scoring opportunities throughout the contest against Bonner Springs, especially in the first half. The Wildcats had seven shots on goal in the first 40 minutes, but their first goal came thanks to a corner kick.

Junior Grant Ryals sent the corner into the box and fellow junior Scott Murphy headed the ball in the back of the net in the 22^nd minute to give Louisburg a 1-0 lead and the score stayed that way at halftime.

Senior Herman Knipp opened the game with the shot on goal after a pass from Raistlin Brewer but was saved by the Bonner Springs goalie. Senior Noah Juarez just missed on a free kick a few minutes later and also had a shot on goal saved.

Senior Ty Martin, sophomore Jonathan Ventre and Knipp also had shots on goal before halftime, but couldn’t increase the Wildcat lead.

Eventually those shots started to go in.

Juarez made it 2-0 early in the second half when he converted a penalty kick after Ventre was fouled in the box. Then in the 52^nd minute, Juarez made it a three-goal lead when he scored on a breakaway opportunity.

Kris Light (right) celebrates with teammate Grant Ryals following Ryals’ goal Thursday in the win over Bonner Springs.

“We had a little trouble finishing early, but then the flood gates opened and we did alright,” Conley said. “I told the guys at halftime that it was only 1-0 and that anything could happen. We are one bad ball out of the back and we are tied. We came out and I thought we really controlled the pace of the game and I thought we did a great job in the midfield.

“We may not have finished as well as we would have liked, but we didn’t hang our heads and kept grinding away and I am definitely pleased with that.”

Ryals sealed the win with a goal in the 61^st minute and the Wildcat defense was able to take care of the rest. Bonner Springs had minimal chances on goal and junior goalkeeper Ambrose Stefan earned his second consecutive shutout.

Louisburg returns to action Tuesday when it travels to Tonganoxie and then will get back into Frontier League action Thursday when the Wildcats travel to Paola.

For a photo gallery of the match, please click here.

Louisburg blanks Eudora

Coming off a frustrating loss to Piper just a day earlier, the Louisburg players didn’t seem to let it get them down when they traveled to Eudora on Sept. 20.

The Wildcats jumped on the Cardinals from the start and never looked back in a 4-0 win as they scored pair of goals in each half.

“I was a little worried about our legs at Eudora with back-to-back games on turf in the heat,” Louisburg coach Kyle Conley said. “We had kids banged up all over the place, but they just grinded and did their job. It was awesome.”

Freshman Landon Johnson, juniors Grant Ryals and Scott Murphy, along with sophomore Jonathan Ventre all scored goals for the Wildcats. Senior Noah Juarez had a pair of assists and junior Raistlin Brewer also had an assist.

Louisburg took a 2-0 lead at halftime, but Eudora threatened to cut the lead in half right after halftime with a good look at the goal, but goalie Ambrose Stefan turned the shot away.

“That really was a great save by Ambrose and if Eudora makes that, the game might be a little different,” Conley said. “After that save, I think that really hurt Eudora’s confidence and we were able to capitalize.”

Wildcats lose in final seconds to Piper

Louisburg made the journey to Piper High School on Sept. 19 and were minutes away from leaving there with a victory.

Instead, Piper scored two goals in the final three minutes to steal a 2-1 victory from Louisburg. The Wildcats held a 1-0 lead through much of the game after a goal from senior Noah Juarez, but a defensive miscue gave Piper an open look at the goal with three minutes left to tie the match.

With 45 seconds remaining in regulation, Piper took a shot on goal, but the Pirate player accidentally struck the ball off his shin guard instead of his foot, which resulted in a floating shot over the outstretched arms on Louisburg goalie Ambrose Stefan.

“In the second half Piper changed their formation and they were super direct and aggressive,” Louisburg coach Kyle Conley said. “The last 15 minutes we were defending for our lives. It was kind of demoralizing because the boys played well enough to win and that is the part that hurt the most. That is probably on me because when you lose like that it is probably a coach’s issue and I should have done something different.

“It was kind of weird last shot that gave them the winning goal. There really wasn’t anything Ambrose could have done on that. It was just unfortunate for us. But I told the guys we weren’t going to let this loss define our season and we didn’t.”