Emporia, Kans. — Wichita Northwest beat the Emporia High boys soccer team 3-1 Tuesday night in both teams’ season opener, but EHS coach Steve Pearson still had a few reasons to smile afterwards.
Despite the loss, Pearson saw enough flashes of good play that gave him reason to believe the Spartans (0-1) would be better this year, especially considering the opponent, Wichita Northwest (1-0), is one of the top soccer schools in the state.
“This was much better than I was expecting,” Pearson said. “Wichita Northwest is a powerhouse, we’re young and new, and without that scrimmage last week, I had no idea what we were going to have to work on. This was great.”
The Spartans found themselves in a hole almost right from the onset, as Northwest’s Zack Watkins snuck a header from Chad Castleberry into the back of the net in the first minute of play to put the Grisslies up 1-0.
Even though EHS gave up the early goal, Pearson said he never lost faith that his team would continue to fight.
“These guys have the best attitude we’ve had since I’ve been out here,” Pearson said. “Being behind doesn’t bother them. I told them to just expect it every game. We’re going to get down, we’re going to come back, we’re going to get down, we’re going to try and get back, and if we get ahead, there’s a plus.”
The Spartans battled back, and in dramatic fashion.
In the game’s fourth minute, junior Adrian Trujillo lined up a free kick from about 25 yards out.
With the sun setting in the west and Trujillo facing the east, he launched a high, arcing shot toward the goal. The shot dropped over Northwest freshman goalie Evan Ogborn’s hands and into the right corner of the net to tie the game at one.
“I knew the goalie was a new keeper and that the sun was in his eyes, so I just shot it high and into the corner,” Trujillo said. “I like those shots from far away.”
After the early scoring flurry, both teams settled into a back and forth grudge match until a miscommunication midway through the first half helped the Grisslies regain the lead for good.
Northwest’s Nick Jacks scored an unassisted goal in the 21st minute after EHS freshman goalie Cory Obermeyer went for the ball and instead found himself out of position as Jacks tapped the ball in to give Northwest the 2-1 lead.
“I shouldn’t have came out,” Obermeyer said. “I should have let my defenders get it. You make mistakes, you learn from your mistakes. I’m still getting used to the hard shots. I’ve just got to get my timing down and get used to those shots.”
At the end of the first half, the two teams were evenly matched, as both squads had five shots on goal, the difference being Northwest’s one extra goal.
However, it didn’t take long for Northwest to strike again in the second half.
Watkins again found himself on the receiving end of a nice pass less than five minutes into the second half, this time on an assist from Connor Fosse, which he converted for the score to put Northwest ahead, 3-1.
EHS had several chances in the second half to draw closer, but couldn’t quite find the back of the net.
In the 53th minute of the second half, sophomore defender Juan Rangel shot a pass down the middle of the field to a streaking Trujillo, but before Trujillo could set up for a shot, he collided with Ogborn.
The collision was a nervous moment for the Spartans, as Trujillo is coming back from a broken leg he suffered at the beginning of last season. Trujillo was OK, but the Spartans missed out on a scoring opportunity.
The last real EHS scoring threat came with less than 13 minutes to go, when Trujillo shot a kick to the left side of the net, only to have Ogborn make a diving save just in time.
In all, Northwest finished with 12 shots-on-goal to Emporia’s seven, while the Spartans held the edge on direct kicks (11-5) and indirect kicks (4-0).
“I thought the game went pretty well for it being the first game,” Trujillo said. “It was a fast tempo. We weren’t used to it since we haven’t played a game in a while.”
Pearson said while the Spartans missed out on some opportunities late, he was pleased with the effort his team gave in its first outing of the season.
“One-hundred percent hustle,” Pearson said. “Last year, we were trying to play this slow, pass and control game, and were getting outrun by taller, faster, longer-legged teams like this one. This year, we told them they had to play in their face, they had to go 100 percent and stay on them all over all the time.
“They did a great job of it.”
Next up for the Spartans is the week-long Titan Classic in Wichita, which runs Sept. 4-9.