Wildcats break losing skid with win over Ottawa

Louisburg junior Ethan Ptacek passes the ball up the field in front of a Baldwin defender last Monday at Baldwin High School. On Thursday, Ptacek scored one of Louisburg’s four goals in its win over Ottawa.

OTTAWA — The Louisburg boys soccer team needed something positive to happen in the worst way. 

The Wildcats had lost two in a row, and three of their last four matches, going into Thursday’s road tilt at Ottawa. Louisburg returned to form against Ottawa as the Wildcats scored two goals in each half and came away with a 4-0 shutout of the Cyclones.

“That win was big for us,” Louisburg coach Kyle Conley said. “We have been playing well, but were struggling to finish. We have been winning every statistical category in these games, but that means nothing when you lose the game. We have been playing good soccer, but having some very terrible luck. In fact, I was thinking if we didn’t have bad luck I am not sure we will have any luck at all. 

“The boys played free and really attacked well and we had them on their heels all night. Boys did great job executing the game plan and Ottawa made zero adjustments with our formation and how we attacked out of it.”

The Wildcats (5-3-1) were the aggressor the entire night as they put together 24 shots, to Ottawa’s five. 

Louisburg’s defense of Aidan Cannon, Toby Espina-Roca, Michael Seuferling, Matthew Sword and Hunter Rogers kept the Cyclone chances to a minimum. Goalie Mack Newell earned the clean sheet.

“We really locked down their two best players,” Conley said. “We limited their touches and their dangerous opportunities. We were strong and played really hard. It was nice to see them play so well together. This group is talented and they really showed that.

“We came out and played our game and did a nice job of executing. We created pressure all over the field. The defense did a great job of limiting their touches in our half and really limited their shots. They only had one dangerous chance and we did really well in taking them away.”

Juniors Cade Gassman and Ethan Ptacek put the pressure on the Cyclone defense as they had seven and six shots, respectively. Junior Colin McManigal had four and senior Braden Yows finished up with three.

Four different Wildcats scored and it started with a freshman. Colton Blue dribbled down the right side and his shot sailed over the Cyclone goalie to give Louisburg the lead late in the first half.

Yows got into the action a few minutes later as Gassman sent a pass into the middle of the box and found the foot of Yows to put Louisburg up 2-0 right before halftime.

Early in the second half, Ptacek added a goal of his own with shot just inside the 18 and the Wildcats were up 3-0. Gassman added another score 20 minutes later to all but seal the win for the Wildcats.

“We really did a great job of moving the ball,” Conley said. “When we are at our best, we attack from so many different positions. When we do that, we are really hard to defend. I think the best part of our game was they we played with so much energy and pressed all over the field. The boys did a fantastic job of executing our scouting report and taking what they gave us. I felt we were tough and played really well.”

Louisburg will try and make it two in a row Tuesday when it hosts Tonganoxie. Varsity is set to begin at approximately 6 p.m.

Wildcats lose road contest to Baldwin

Louisburg was hoping to get back on the winning track last Monday when it traveled to Baldwin, but instead the Wildcats left with a 2-0 loss.

The match was scoreless in the first half. The two teams then had a 30 minute weather delay before resuming.

Baldwin scored in the first five minutes in the second half and then scored off a header to secure the win over Louisburg. 

The Wildcats were without starting midfielder, and captain, Braden Yows, who was sitting out with an injury. 

“We controlled the game, but we struggled to execute,” Conley said. “We dominated every category, but the scoreboard. I felt we had some great build up, but we just lacked creativity in the final third. They packed it in and they just kicked it as far as they could. It is a very frustrating style to play against, but we needed to execute better.

“Yes, missing Braden has hurt, but we still need to execute and play better. We ended up giving up two bad goals. We refocused and we got better in our two days of practice and we showed that against Ottawa.”

Louisburg had six shots on goal, including two from Cade Gassman. Isaac Guetterman, Ethan Ptacek, Matthew Sword and Gavin York each had one.

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