Louisburg soccer bounces back from first loss to beat Eudora

Louisburg defender Michael Seuferling clears a ball out of the back during the Wildcats’ game last week against Spring Hill at the Wildcat Sports Complex.

The Louisburg boys soccer team was forced to do something that it hadn’t faced all season.

The Wildcats had to respond from a loss.

Louisburg suffered its first setback of the season last Tuesday when it hosted Spring Hill and fell in a close match, 2-1. It was a heartbreaking result in what was a back-and-forth match, but the Wildcats didn’t have time to sulk.

Eudora was next on the Wildcats’ schedule Thursday and they had to hit the road for that one. Louisburg found itself down in the opening minutes, but the Wildcats responded with four unanswered goals and left Eudora with a 4-1 victory.

“We wanted the Eudora match to be a statement game,” Louisburg coach Kyle Conley said. “We wanted to come out and show what type of team that we were and I think we did that. We played really well for about 77 minutes in that game. They boys moved the ball well and took what Eudora gave us. I was really excited how we performed and how the game went. I felt that the boys were able to set the tone and control the game from the start.

“We had one moment where we turned it off and their forward absolutely blasted a shot from 28 yards out. After that moment I think that we did really well and set the tempo. The boys did a great job.”

Following Eudora’s goal to start the match, the Wildcats went on a tear and it started with Hunter Rogers. The Louisburg junior scored to tie up the match and the Wildcats were able to control possession the rest of the way.

Sophomore Cade Gassman scored a pair of first half goals, including one on an assist from senior Treston Carlson to put the Wildcats up 2-1. Then shortly before halftime, Gassman scored again, this time on an assist from junior Braden Yows.

Junior Jaden Vohs wrapped up the Louisburg scoring in the second half with goal after an assist from Gassman.

Despite the early goal, the Wildcat defense held up strong and limited the Cardinals to just eight shots on the night.

As for Louisburg (9-1), the Wildcats put pressure on the Eudora defense all night as they took 23 shots – including six from Gassman. Sophomores Colin McManigal and Gavin York had four and three shots, respectively.

It was the performance the Wildcats were looking for after a difficult loss to Spring Hill, in what was a non-league matchup.

Despite controlling possession for much of the match and outshooting the Broncos 18-8, Spring Hill was able to top Louisburg with a goal in the final minutes.

With under two minutes remaining, the Wildcats were called for a foul just outside box, which led to a free kick and header that found the back of the net.

“The first half we barely let them past midfield and we were just controlling play,” Conley said. “After halftime, I told the boys to keep pressing and then after while we just sat in and then we started kicking the ball around and not playing feet. We let them play their game and they are obviously better at playing their game than we are and they just got us.

“It was kind of on us. We had two mental breakdowns and they got two goals off of it and that was it. We outshot them, out possessed them and missed some easy looks near the goal. It is frustrating, but this gives us things that we need to improve on and get better.”

Going into the match, the Wildcats had 468 minutes of scoreless soccer and had five consecutive shutouts – which was a school record. They also set a school record with an eight game win streak to start the season.

Spring Hill broke both of those streaks after a scoreless first half. The Broncos found the back of the net early in the second half, but the Wildcats were able to respond just minutes later.

The Broncos were called for a foul in the box and Yows drove home the penalty kick to tie the match. From there, it was tied at 1-all until 1:47 left in the game when the Wildcats were called for a foul outside the box.

Spring Hill then sent the ball toward the goal and the Broncos were able to head it in for the game-winner.

“The boys were just executing so well the first 50 or 60 minutes of the game and they were executing the scouting report perfectly,” Conley said. “Both Spring Hill outside backs had yellow cards and I wanted them to attack the outside, but we stopped doing that. Spring Hill is probably the best team that we will see on our schedule.”

The Wildcats will try and get revenge tonight when they travel to Spring Hill in what is a Frontier League matchup and could determine who wins the league title. The match is set to begin at 6 p.m.

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