Two missed opportunities late cost the Emporia High soccer team the chance at knocking off Bishop Carroll Tuesday night on a soggy field at the TRYSA Soccer Complex.
Bishop Carroll came away with a 2-1 victory thanks to a goal by Jacob Velasquez with less than two minutes remaining, but the Spartans (3-8-2) had their chances — particularly in the second half.
In the 52nd minute and with Bishop Carroll leading 1-0, EHS’s Adrian Trujillo went streaking past the Carroll defense and found himself with an open look about 15 feet away from the goal. But Trujillo’s shot sailed right on him and out of play.
Then, with less than five minutes left and the game tied at 1-1, Alex Guevara centered the ball to Adam Sanchez, who was just in front of the net on the left side. Sanchez leapt to kick the ball into what was an open net, but the ball went through his legs and rolled harmlessly away from the goal.
“I should have had that last goal,” Sanchez said. “We never get the last goals it seems like, but we’ll get them eventually. I was going to hit it with my leg, but the ball went right through. It was so close.”
It was two examples of the type of frustrating play that has haunted the Spartans all season long, EHS coach Steve Pearson said.
“We keep getting our chances, we just blow them,” Pearson said. “We had multiple chances — we shot wide, we missed easy crosses. Adrian’s wide-open shot that went just to the right was pretty frustrating. Shots like that make me grind my teeth.”
The Spartans had battled back from a 1-0 deficit, however, when Sanchez scored the tying goal in the 74th minute.
Brian Dorsey launched a shot toward the goal from the left side, but instead of going in, the ball went straight to Sanchez on the right side. The Carroll goalkeeper had gone away from Sanchez to try to block Dorsey’s shot, which left Sanchez all alone for the score to make it 1-1. Dorsey was credited with the assist.
“I didn’t think I’d make that shot,” Sanchez said, “but I was pretty wide open.”
The possibility of overtime loomed until the 79th minute, when Velasquez turned and fired a shot toward Spartan goalkeeper Spencer Anderson, who was standing about five feet in front of the net.
Anderson slipped in the mud from the day’s rains, but somehow managed to get his hands on the ball to deflect it. However, Velasquez had put enough power on his shot that the ball trickled into the net to put Bishop Carroll up, 2-1.
“It (the shot) caught me off guard and I slipped, and I just couldn’t save it,” Anderson said. “It was really muddy back there by the goal. I thought I had it, but I didn’t have enough time to get up before it went in.”
After a first half that saw the Spartans get just four shots on goal — Carroll got its first goal on a shot by Velasquez in the 17th minute — EHS rebounded to out-shoot Bishop Carroll, 13-8.
Pearson said the fact that so many players were out of position to start the game — the EHS seniors all started due to it being Senior Night — led to the sloppy to begin the game.
“I thought we played great,” Pearson said. “We were a little rough in the first half because we started all seniors, and so some people were out of position. But other than that, we looked pretty decent.”
EHS gymnastics places 2nd at home meet
Tarra Nichols led the Emporia High gymnastics squad to a second-place finish at the Spartans’ home meet Tuesday night against Olathe South and Olathe North.
Nichols finished with a first-place showing in the bars and followed with a second-place routine on the floor exercise to come in fourth in the all-around competition with a season-high 33.15 points.
Not far behind Nichols was Hayley Fry, as she used a no-fall routine on the beam (8.8) and a personal-best vault (8.6) to place third and second in the respective events. Fry finished in fourth in the all-around competition with a score of 33.
Senior Libby England had personal bests in all four events, highlighted by a fifth-place showing on the floor (8.3). Hayley Risel scored a 7.3 on the floor, Kelsey Downs had her first no-fall routine on the beam and scored a personal-best 6.2 in the process, Mercedes Davis scored a personal-best 6.5 on the bars and Madison Reiber scored an 8.0 on the vault.
The Spartans’ next meet is Oct. 17, the last home meet of the season, which means it will be Senior Night for Libby England and Stephanie Ternes. The meet will be against Hutchinson and Newton.