By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Coming off a three-goal loss, Topeka High soccer delivered a strong bounce-back peformance Thursday at Hayden, scoring three goals in the final 16:10 to take a 4-1 Centennial League victory.
Topeka High junior John Martinez (8) scored two goals in the Trojans' 4-1 soccer win over Hayden. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"It's a bounce back as far as the win goes,'' said Trojan coach Derek Snook, whose team was coming off a 4-1 loss to Lawrence. "Obviously playing on grass instead of turf it slows things down, so we got out of sorts a little bit, but with the way we played coming through and to keep fighting, keep fighting, keep fighting, we had our opportunities and it's looking good.
"The boys are starting to talk about what they see, so that's a good thing.''
Junior John Martinez scored a pair of goals for the 2-1 Trojans, who also got goals from seniors Noah Storrer and Eric McKinley.
Senior Aiden Roberts (4) scored Hayden's lone goal in Thursday's 4-1 soccer loss to Topeka High. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Martinez scored the lone goal of the first half at the 11:16 mark but Hayden (0-2) needed just 1:01 into the second half to knot the score at 1-1 on a goal from senior Aiden Roberts.
Topeka High junior John Martinez (8) is congratulated by his teammates after scoring his second goal in the Trojans' 4-1 soccer win over Hayden. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The score remained deadlocked for nearly 23 minutes before Martinez scored what proved to be the game-winning goal for the Trojans.
Topeka High got insurance goals from Storrer and McKinley down the stretch to account for the three-goal margin for the Trojans while senior Neri Diaz-Mayorga was credited with an assist.
High improved to 2-0 in the Centennial League while Hayden dropped its league opener.
TOPEKA HIGH 4, HAYDEN 1
Topeka High (2-1, 2-0) 1 3 -- 4
Hayden (0-2, 0-1) 0 1 -- 1
Topeka High -- Goals: John Martinez 2, Noah Storrer, Eric McKinley. Assist: Neri Diaz-Mayorga.
