By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Vellamy Diaz stole the show with two Highland Park goals in the Scot' 3-2 victory over Topeka West on Tuesday night at Hummer Sports Park.
“Vellamy is an amazing soccer player with a ton of potential,” Highland Park coach Colin Moriarty said. “Vellamy continues to impress me and his teammates every year. I think he can compete with anyone that’s in front of him. If I have to choose someone for a one-on-one battle, I’m choosing Vellamy versus most people.”
Highland Park senior standout Vellamy Diaz (10) advances the ball against Topeka West junior Kyren Padilla in Tuesday's 3-2 Scot win over the Chargers. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Highland Park senior Vellamy Diaz (left) celebrates one of his two goals in Tuesday's 3-2 soccer win over Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Diaz' electrifying offense countered by his stifling defense was a big factor that played into Highland Park’s victory.
While the Scots would spend a majority of the first half in Topeka West territory, they were unable to capitalize offensively against a tough Topeka West defense.
That would all change with 24:58 left on the clock when Diaz poked in a goal that was assisted by Neri-Diaz Mayorga to put the Scots up, 1-0.
Strong efforts by both teams would result in a defensive slugfest for nearly 25 more minutes.
Diaz would achieve his second goal of the half after a slick pass from Estevan Aguirre in a crowded box to give the Scots a 2-0 lead.
“We came out strong in the first half,” Moriarty said. “We had to face a lot of adversity tonight so having a strong start helped us throughout the remainder of the game.”
The momentum would turn in the favor of Topeka West in a big way at the start of the second half. Forty-eight seconds after the halftime break, Harrison Lane would tap the ball to Lenny Njorge for a Charger goal. Njoroge diced Highland Park in the box and it would result in the team feeding off the momentum.
The emotion would get to Highland Park shortly after Njoroge’s goal. Two key Scots players would receive yellow cards at the 33:41 mark in the second half. The momentum from Topeka West would be handed to Highland Park after the Scots wanted revenge for the carding.
Neri Diaz-Mayorga would take advantage of two Topeka West players going for a header in the goal box by sneaking his way by the Charger defenders and toe-tapping a goal to put the Scots back up by two goals.
Topeka West defender Jackson Snyder would get tangled up with a Scots player and the official awarded Snyder with a penalty kick.
Snyder would execute his penalty kick with a strong boot to the top left corner of the goal. Topeka West would only be down by one goal with 12:16 left in the contest.
“We needed to keep our heads straight on after that penalty kick,” Moriarty said. “We’ve had tough games the last two weeks and each week presents a new challenge. We just needed to keep our heads up and keep our composure if we wanted to win. I thought our guys did a good job of that tonight.''
Highland Park was able to hang on and keep Topeka West out of its territory for the remainder of the game and would come out with the 3-2 road win.
“We had to gut it out for the entire game today,” Moriarty said. “With this group, guts and grit is something we will never lack.”
HIGHLAND PARK 3, TOPEKA WEST 2
Highland Park (2-1) 2 1 – 3
Topeka West (0-4) 0 2 – 2
Highland Park – Goals: Diaz 2, Diaz-Mayorga. Assists: Diaz-Mayorga, Aguirre.
Topeka West – Goals: Njoroge, Snyder. Assist: Lane.
