The Emporia High boys soccer team earned a spot in the championship game of the Titan Classic tournament in Wichita with a 3-0 blanking of Wichita North in Wednesday night’s semifinal match.
It is the first championship game appearance for the Spartans since 2001 when they came in second. The last time EHS won the Titan Classic was 1995.
Saturday, EHS will go against Garden City for the title.
“We will have to be at our best Saturday,” EHS coach Steve Pearson said. “We watched the Buffalos play their semifinal match against Hutchinson, and they won it 3-0. They are going to be a real match for us man-to-man.”
Emporia (3-0) took the lead early when forward Alex Guevara scored in the first three minutes off a pass from Carlos Antonio to make the score 1-0. It appeared the game might be a low-scoring affair after that, as neither team managed to score the rest of the first half. The Spartans managed just one shot on goal in the first half after scoring, while the Redskins got off seven shots but could not get any past EHS goalkeeper Spencer Anderson.
After the break, the game did prove to be low-scoring, but only for the Redskins. Emporia High turned on the offense in the second half, scoring twice despite only attempting three shots on goal.
Antonio found the back of the net off a corner kick from Luis Ibarra, and Adam Sanchez scored the final goal in the last minute off another Ibarra assist, this time on a direct kick that went off the head of Joey Sanchez and Brian Dorsey before Sanchez sent it into the net.
The victory did not come easily for the Spartans, as they suffered several injuries in a rough and physical game. Guevara suffered a sprained ankle and is questionable for Saturday’s game, while Anderson has taken a fair amount of abuse in front of the net all week during the tournament.
“Hopefully, the players will all be physically back on the field by Saturday,” Pearson said. “I expect they may be black and blue, but if they’re standing, they’ll want to play.”
Saturday’s championship tilt against Garden City will begin at 3 p.m.
Emporia High 3, Wichita North 0
Wednesday at Wichita
Emporia 1 2 — 3
Wichita North 0 0 — 0
First Half
Emp — Alex Guevara (assist from Carlos Antonio)
Second Half
Emp — Antonio (assist from Luis Ibarra)
Emp — Adam Sanchez (assist from Ibarra)
Shots on goal — Emporia 5, WN 8. Saves — Emporia 8, WN 2. Corner kicks — Emporia 5, WN 5. Direct kicks — Emporia 16, WN 17. Indirect kicks — Emporia 1, WN 4. Penalty kicks — Emporia 0, WN 1. Fouls — Emporia 18, WN 17. Yellow cards — Emporia: Juan Carlos Rangel, Carlos Antonio; WN: Jose Garcia, Eugene Iam.
Records — Emporia 3-0.