By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Shawnee Heights boys soccer team felt a big weight lifted from its shoulders Tuesday night at Bettis Family Sports Complex when it picked up its first victory after a stretch of three tough defeats.
Shawnee Heights junior Camden Granado (6) is congratulated by his teammates after scoring one of his two goals in Tuesday's 4-2 UKC soccer win over De Soto. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The T-Birds fell behind visitor De Soto less than three minutes into the contest, but they never lost faith and finished with a 4-2 victory.
"The team feels great,” said junior Camden Granado, who netted two goals for the T-Birds. “It was a great way to bounce back.”
Granado matched De Soto’s opening goal midway through the first half when he fought through traffic with a pass from sophomore Mason Haas.
Sophomore Mason Haas had a goal and an assist in Shawnee Heights' 4-2 UKC soccer win over De Soto. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Shawnee Heights junior Mikey Lilly (3) is congratulated after scoring a goal in Tuesday's 4-2 soccer win over De Soto. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Just four minutes later, Haas put the T-Birds ahead with a penalty kick after being pushed in the back near the De Soto goal. And two minutes after that, Junior Mikey Lilly gave the T-Birds a 3-1 advantage that held through the intermission.
De Soto opened the second period with another strike to close the gap to 3-2, but Granado gave the T-Birds an insurance goal at the 16-minute mark.
“We’re a young team this year. We only have four seniors,” said T-Bird coach Nic Simons. “So, we’re going to make mistakes. I kept telling the guys ‘Let’s learn from those mistakes, show growth, and it will pay off eventually.’ And it did tonight.”
Shawnee Heights’ first victory came after losses to Class 6A opponents Washburn Rural, Lawrence Free State and Topeka High.
“We certainly front loaded our schedule with some pretty tough competition,” Simons said. “Rural is good and we had a lot of adversity there. Free State is good, and Topeka High has a great team this year. I kept telling the kids, 'We are so close. We have looked so good in stretches this season and we’ve just got to put it together.’ ”
Granado pointed out that the three early defeats did not preclude the T-Birds from achieving their goals.
“The first three games, we had a rough non-league stretch. But our goal is to win league, so we’re one step closer to our goal,” Granado said. “We’ve learned a lot.
“I don’t think this was our best game. I think once we put those full 80 minutes together, we’re going to be something special. We’ve got to play more as a team, making that click and cutting down on mistakes.”
Simons said the team demonstrated a lot of character during the losing skid.
“The kids have maintained positivity this whole time,” Simons said. “We have just been searching for that one break, that one bounce, that one goal that kind of sparks everything. I think tonight we saw that, going from down a goal early – making a mistake that puts us down early – and responding and fighting back. It shows the heart, and I think that will translate really well.”
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 4, DE SOTO 2
De Soto (0-5-0) 1 1 — 2
Shawnee Heights (1-3-0) 3 1 — 4
De Soto — Goals: Narayan, Province. Assists: none.
Shawnee Heights — Goals: Granado 2, Haas, Lilly. Assists: Haas, Prater.
