Hesston vs. Kansas City, Kansas CC
Sept 29, 2005, Hesston, Kan.

1st half:  1 KCKCC Dustin Driskell (David Robertson) 19:51; 2 KCKCC Andreas Rademacher (David Robertson) 20:52; 3 KCKCC Andreas Rademacher (unassisted) 21:35; 1 HC Felipe Tafur (Emanuel Batu) 25:19

2nd half:  4 KCKCC Suma Kargbo (David Robertson) 66:19; 5 KCKCC Adam Noori (Suma Kargbo) 83:12; 2 HC Aaron Martin (unassisted)

Yellow Cards: HC 3 (Jordan Hannon - 2, Emanuel Batu)
Red Cards: HC - 1 (Jordan Hannon)

Coach's Summary:  A perfect day for a soccer game turned into an ugly affair early for the Hesston College Larks as they took on the Blue Devils from Kansas City Kansas Community College. Less than five minutes into the match Lark defender Jordon Hannon was whistled for a foul, given a yellow card for dissent, and then a red card for further dissent, which put the Larks down a man for the next 85 minutes of the match.
    "It all seemed so surreal. Jordon is normally a very quite person and player. In fact the only complaint that I usually have about Jordon is that he doesn't talk enough. But he fully deserved the cards he received. I've spoken to our players before about not arguing or even talking to the referee but for some reason Jordon blew a casket. It was an embarrassing moment for Jordon, the team, and myself. But the immediate problem was now how do we function against a good team like KCK with only 10 men. This isn't something we practice because I just don't expect us to get any red cards. We only have six or seven yellow cards total this season which I'm sure is far less than any team we play against."
    "We continued to play as we normally would but I knew that we were setting up ourselves to overwork our midfielders."
    KCK would find lots of space now in the short handed Larks. Twenty minutes into the game the Blue Devils put a pounding on the Larks by scoring three goals in two minutes.
    "Losing Jordon was a huge blow to us not only were we short a player but we just weren't playing strong one on one defense. They just seemed to slice right through us. Even down a man no one should score 3 goals against us that quickly."
    Despite the huge hole the Larks had dug for themselves they still managed their own goal five minutes later. Emanuel Batu's free kick put Felipe Tafur one on the keeper. Tafur neatly placed the ball over the keeper's head and in the back of the net.
    "Getting the goal really gave our players new life. At that point I was just hoping that we could get to half time with the score the same. We did which showed me that we could stay in the game if we just wouldn't allow any more goals. Our strategy going into the second half was to just play strong defensively and try to get some goals in counterattack."
    The score did remain the same until half. The second half the Larks looked content to give KCK possession of the ball in their own half but not in the Larks. For another twenty minutes the Larks strategy seemed to work, but an interception of a throw by the keeper gave KCK a golden opportunity to get the fourth goal and they did not waste it.
    Now with the game seemingly in control by KCK the Larks just looked to narrow the gap. But before Hesston could get another good opportunity the Blue Devils made it 5-1. With about 5 minutes left Aaron Martin stepped up on a free kick from about 20 yards out. Martin buried a hard driven shot to the right upper corner to salvage something positive out of a long long game for the Larks.
    "It's perplexing to me. Not only was I shocked by Jordon's lapse of control but also just the way our whole team played. We just didn't play very strong as a team defensively. That third goal really took the wind out of us. As a coach you just hope that we can bounce back and play strong like we did against Johnson County."
    The Larks fall to 4-5 on the season and 2-4 in regional play. The Larks have the weekend off and will next play Allen County Community College in Iola, KS on Wednesday Oct 5 at 3:00pm.