By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden's soccer team had to sweat out its season-opener against Topeka West until the final horn sounded, but even though coach Klaus Kreutzer knows his Wildcats have a long ways to go to be the team he wants it to be, Friday's 2-1 home non-league win was a good start in the right direction.
Topeka West's Jaden Patterson (left) and Hayden's Jake Muller (right), who scored a goal, race for the ball in Friday' 2-1 Wildcat win over the Chargers. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden's Easton Blosser (7) and Topeka West's Aden Shaul, who scored the Chargers' lone goal, battle for the ball on the sideline in Friday's 2-1 Hayden win at Hayden. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"It's better to look from the top than looking up from the bottom,'' Kreutzer said. "And I thought we worked hard. They didn't necessarily make good decisions, but I thought the effort was OK.
"I think I learned a whole lot because I've got 10 new players.''
Hayden, which advanced to the Class 4A-1A state quarterfinals a year ago, never trailed after a goal from senior Jake Muller at the 14:43 mark of the opening half and the Wildcats protected their 1-0 halftime advantage when sophomore goalkeeper Chase Blaser came up with a save on a Topeka West penalty kick.
The Wildcats then made the score 2-0 with 28:12 left to play when a Topeka West ball handling error resulted in an own goal.
But Topeka West, coming off an 0-15-1 season, did not go away, getting back within a goal at the 6:33 mark on a goal from senior Aden Shaul off an assist from junior Brendan Komma and putting together several scoring opportunities down the stretch before running out of time.
"Last year's season was noted by our attack and not hitting the back of the net,'' West coach Josh Kutter said. "Today we had several opportunities where we're attacking, where we're in front of the net and we're putting it towards their goal, so yes, we see a ton of improvement and we're looking forward to using that momentum.''
HAYDEN 2, TOPEKA WEST 1
Topeka West (0-1) 0 1 -- 1
Hayden (1-0) 1 1 -- 2
Topeka West -- Goal: Aden Shaul. Assist:Brendan Komma.
Hayden -- Goals: Jake Muller, own goal.
