Emporia High was without defender Alejandro Sandoval on Tuesday at Hayden.
Then halfway through the first half, Brian Tabares also got injured. But it didn’t matter much for the Spartans, as their short-handed defense persevered in a 1-0 victory over Hayden, the third-ranked soccer team in 4A.
“It was senior Gary Rivera and the sophomores Blaze Witten, Jared Shaeffer, and Yonathan Pachacano who stepped up in defense,” EHS coach Angel Cornejo said. “They made a few mistakes but were able to keep Hayden from scoring.”
EHS goalie Cory Obermeyer, who had 10 saves, also deserves credit for Emporia High’s third straight shutout.
The EHS offense did not have its best game, but Cornejo said they were aggressive throughout, and the aggressiveness finally paid off almost two minutes into the second half when the Spartans’ pressure caused an own goal by Hayden.
The Spartans improved to 4-1 and have won four straight.
The EHS junior varsity also won 1-0. Saul Trujillo scored the Spartans’ only goal to give the JV its first win this season.