By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
As you would probably expect from teams that were virtually even in season records and postseason seedings, Tuesday's Hayden-Mulvane Class 4A regional soccer opener was a close game from start to finish.
But the only goal of the game was enough to allow Hayden to extend its season, with the hosts taking the 1-0 victory to advance to Thursday's regional final at 16-1-0 Buhler.
Hayden senior Jake Muller pressures Mulvane's Chance Brown in Tuesday's 1-0 Hayden Class 4A regional win. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden senior Konnor Becker kicks a shot on goal in Tuesday's 1-0 Hayden win over Mulvane in a Class 4A regional soccer opener. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"Give them credit,'' Hayden coach Klaus Kreutzer said of Mulvane. "I think they made us work pretty hard and we were on our haunches a good part of the time, but we'll take it.''
Hayden, the No. 8 seed in the 4A West regional pairings, improved to 8-8-1 on the season while No. 9 seed Mulvane ended its season at 7-10-0.
There was no scoring in Tuesday's contest for more than 62 minutes before freshman Aiden Roberts found the back of the net off a pass from senior Jake Muller for the game-winner.
Hayden lost senior standout Chris Hayes to a red card with 12:46 remaining, but the Wildcats were still able to keep Mulvane off the scoreboard, with sophomore Zach Cook recording the shutout in goal.
Kreutzer said the only objective Tuesday was to survive and advance.
"You're either going to play or have a lot more free time,'' Kreutzer said.
Hayden will face a Buhler team on Thursday that advanced with a 10-0 victory over Cair Paravel Latin.
HAYDEN 1, MULVANE 0
Mulvane (7-10-0) 0 0 -- 0
Hayden (8-8-1) 0 1 -- 1
Hayden -- Goal: Aiden Roberts. Assist: Jake Muller. Shutout: Zach Cook.
