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| Soccer team’s run ends in regionals |
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| Sports | |||
| Written by Gene Morris | |||
| Wednesday, 04 November 2009 07:00 | |||
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INDEPENDENCE, Kan. — Scoring the first goal against the Paola High School soccer team was not exactly an advantage against the Panthers. Paola figured they had their opponents right where they wanted them, trailing most of the season, the team played its best soccer coming from behind. Paola’s regional playoff game Friday on the road against Independence was no different in that regard. The Panthers were down 1-0. Playing on a water-logged, wet field, Paola battled for 80 minutes with a howling wind blowing. Independence ended Paola’s season with a 2-0 shutout. Paola fell to 8-10 with the loss. “This group of kids never knew they were going to lose,” Paola coach Matt Higgins said. “We were down 1-0 early in almost every game we played, and they never gave up and kept playing. At times I think we played better when we were down 1-0, because it seemed like we always scored then.” Even facing a deficit in the regionals, Paola knew they could come back, Higgins said. “Our guys played hard like always, and they never thought they were going to lose,” he said. “Even when we were down 2-0 with 15 minutes left they thought we would come back and score. “This was the first time that I have ever coached for a regional championship, and we had a great chance to win the game,” Higgins said. “We lost 2-0 against a good Independence team that played through the wet conditions to put two goals in the net. It was a game that I thought would go 0-0 in the overtime, but the other team was able to deal with the wet weather and push the ball through the mud.” Seniors playing in their last high school soccer game for the Panthers were Austin Brocker, Derek Butters, Kelsey Dietrich, Brandon Gaus, Alex Hermes, Jack Pursley, Will Randall, Marcus Tetwiler, Eric Timpe and Keelan Trull. “This is the biggest senior class I have ever coached, and I have coached these kids for three years, so I have had the opportunity to get to know them really well,” Higgins said. “This group has played together for three years with some ups and downs.” The seniors won nine games at the junior varsity level as sophomores and recorded 13 wins for the junior varsity their junior year. “Most of them moved to varsity this season and I expected them to keep winning,” Higgins said. “Some of the players were two or three year starters but for the most part the players have only been varsity starters for this season together. “This was not the ending I wanted with this team,” he said. “I would have loved to get the regional championship trophy for these guys, but this group of kids accomplished a lot for the program. This class has given expectations to Paola soccer that we expect to win, and that we will be a tough game for anyone we play.” Paola’s record is not an indication of how hard this team worked and played, Higgins said. “Two of our teams from the Frontier League made it to the final eight, and I think one of them will win state,” he said. “We play in one of the toughest 4A soccer leagues in the state, and we battled for every win this season.”
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