By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Tuesday's non-league boys soccer match between traditional city powers Washburn Rural and Shawnee Heights was hard fought all the way through, with Heights playing its best soccer of the night late in the contest.
But both coaches agreed that a goal by Rural senior forward Easton Bradstreet just 1:43 into the game set the tone in the Junior Blues' 3-1 win over the T-Birds at the Bettis Family Sports Complex.
Washburn Rural senior Easton Bradstreet reacts to his goal 1:43 into Tuesday's soccer game against Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Easton Bradstreet is mobbed by his Washburn Rural teammates after putting Rural up 1-0 Tuesday night against Shawnee Heights in a 3-1 Junior Blue victory. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The game had barely started when Bradstreet found a crease in the Shawnee Heights defense and put the ball in the back of the net to put the T-Birds in chase mode the rest of the night.
"We talk about a fast start,'' Washburn Rural coach Brian Hensyel said. "Friday night in Wichita we scored two in the first five minutes. Here we get one early, so what it does is you just put somebody from behind the whole game and they're always chasing the game.
"That first goal, really at the end of the day, is the game-winner, It's the difference-maker.''
Shawnee Heights coach Nic Simons agreed that Bradstreet's early goal was huge.
"We talked yesterday, we talked last week after Lawrence High (a 3-2 loss) that you can't concede anything in the first five because that sets the tone,'' Simons said. "And sure enough we did. Give Rural credit. They came out hungry and we came out on our heels.''
Washburn Rural junior forward Devon Rutschmann gave the Junior Blues a 2-0 halftime advantage with a goal off a free kick with 12:02 left in the opening half and Rural, now 2-0, made it 3-0 with 32:25 remaining on a goal from junior Griffin Heinen off an assist from Rutschmann.
Shawnee Heights, which fell to 0-2, came to life late in the game, getting on the board with 1:11 left on a goal from senior Jordan Garvin.
Rural, which had opened its season with a 7-1 road win at Kapaun Mt. Carmel last Friday, had several other near-misses, but Hensyel said that's just part of the game.
"We've started the season 2-0 and we've kind of seen the two ways a soccer game can go,'' Hensyel said. "On Friday night in Wichita against Kapaun every ball flew in the back of the net. We didn't miss anything. Every ball that hit the crossbar fell in and we just had one of those nights where everything falls.
"Tonight we created a lot of opportunities and we hit the crossbar a couple of times. We could have put in more, but that's the game sometimes. They made some nice plays to keep us out of the net and hung around. Overall, a good performance. Obviously we want to finish a bit more, but we'll take a win over Shawnee Heights any time.''
While disappointed with the loss, Simons said the T-Birds saw some plusses, particularly in the second half, they can take from Tuesday.
"I thought we responded pretty well,'' Simons said. "I thought we played a really good last 10 minutes and I thought the kids finally figured some things out. It was almost 70 minutes too late. However, Rural's always going to be a good team and they're a great measuring stick, a great test early in the season.
"We're taking positives away from this. We've had two tough losses early in the season against two 6A teams that really give us good tests and that's what we want. We want to see what kind of team we are and I think this is kind of shaping that.''
WASHBURN RURAL 3, SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 1
Washburn Rural (2-0) 2 1 -- 3
Shawnee Heights (0-2) 0 1 -- 1
Washburn Rural -- Goals: Easton Bradstreet, Devon Rutschmann, Griffin Heinen. Assist: Devon Rutschmann.
Shawnee Heights -- Goal: Jordan Garvin.
