| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| Johnson County |
1
|
1
|
2
|
| Hesston |
0
|
0
|
0
|
1st half - 1 JC goal Luis Pinto (assist Daniel Jirenga)
2nd half - 2 JC goal Jason Cummins (unassisted)
Shots on goal – JC 10 HC 1
Saves – JC Atar Gustavo HC Kyle Beun 8
Coach's Comments--
Coming off a disappointing loss
to Neosho County the Johnson County game loomed large. JC, ranked 10th
in the nation, came in full of confidence having beaten up on every
other Region VI opponent they have faced so far this season and having
given Hesston a good shellacking last year (11-0!). The Larks, however,
were not intimidated and played a well-fought game. Our game plan was
to play a strong defensive game and try to strike with quick counter
attacks. JC came at Hesston with good attacks but was limited to keeping
their play out to the flanks. The Larks bottled up the middle and gave
the Cavaliers little to no room to mount serious scoring threats. The
first most serious threat to score actually came from the Larks. Arsene
Tshidimu intercepted a ball from the Cavaliers sweeper but unfortunately
the deflected ball rolled just out of the reach of Tshidimu as the JC
keeper swallowed up the ball just in time. HC managed a few good attacks
in the first half but most of the play went to JC. Most of their attempts
on goal were from outside or off of crosses and that was our game plan.
We wanted to keep them out of the center and push them to the sides.
And our guys did a great job of doing just that. Goalkeeper Kyle Beun
was solid in net for the Larks making dangerous crosses look harmless
the entire first half. JC did manage to put the ball in the net late
into the first half. As Daniel Jirenga finally managed to beat the Hesston
defense with a precision cross through the box that found Luis Pinto
for an acrobatic finish.
With JC only up 1-0 to start the
second half things looked good for HC. But a miss played cross by Beun
(a rare miscue for the Larks’ keeper) found an opportunistic Jason
Cummins who managed to poke in an open net goal. Although down 2-0 now
and off to an unfortunate 2nd half start, the Larks quickly regrouped
and got back on track. The Larks defense tightened up and frustrated
the Cavaliers for the rest of the game. Beun bounced back with some
superb saves that kept the final score 2-0. I was really proud of my
players. They played a fantastic game especially on defense. Johnson
County is one of the best teams in our Region if not the country. We
had opportunities to score but just didn’t capitalize. If we could’ve
managed the first goal in that game it’s probably a different result.
The Larks came into the game missing
several players due to injuries. HC only had 4 subs available while
JC literally was substituting 10 at a time. Basically they were playing
their players in 15-20 minute shifts. It was daunting for our players
to see a new team of players come on with fresh legs every 20 minutes,
but we didn’t relent. Our guys were exhausted at the end but pleased
with the result. Even though we lost it was good to stay so close with
such a good team. The next contest will come on Wed., Sept 18, against
another Region VI opponent Allen County here at Hesston at 7:30 p.m.