By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
A disputed call in a scoreless match marred a soccer battle between Washburn Rural and Shawnee Heights that eventually went the way of the Junior Blues 5-0 Tuesday night at Bettis Family Sports Complex.
Washburn Rural junior Brandon Hamilton had a goal and two assists in Tuesday's 5-0 non-league road win over Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Midway through the first half, the Shawnee Heights goalkeeper was issued a red card for an unsafe tackle in front of the goal. When a T-Bird defender was similarly penalized for his reaction to the call, Shawnee Heights found itself down two key players at the 15:41 mark.
After T-Bird coach Nic Simons was red-carded for arguing his displeasure, the game took on a different tone.
To their credit, the T-Birds didn’t give up despite Washburn Rural’s Brandon Hamilton banging home the penalty kick. But the Junior Blues added a second goal just before halftime – a Brodye Kocher-Munoz score assisted by Hamilton – and gradually pulled away.
“I actually thought that while we created more opportunities, it was a fairly even game the first 20 minutes before the (penalty kick),” Washburn Rural coach Brian Hensyel said. “Shawnee Heights had good effort. When you come to their home field, they are always going to bring energy, and if we don’t match that, it’s going to be a tough game.
“For the first 20 minutes they had the better energy, and I thought, ‘This is going to be a tough one tonight.’ But then that call broke the game open. That just changes the complexion of the game. Give them credit, down two guys, they still played real hard all night.”
Washburn Rural junior Dylan Willingham (right) had a goal and an assist in the Junior Blues' 5-0 win over Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
In the second half, the Junior Blues got scores from Pierce Cannon, Dylan Willingham and Brady Loeffler.
The Junior Blues improved to 2-0, having blanked Manhattan 7-0 last Friday night.
Junior goalkeeper Miles Cook combined for his second straight shutout in goal in Tuesday's 5-0 win over Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Spearheading the two shutouts was junior goalkeeper Miles Cook, who is getting his chance in the net after backing up some standout keepers the past two seasons.
“It feels amazing to be getting my chance. To have learned from those players (before me) and be able to be that player now feels phenomenal,” Cook said. “We’ve been having good success so far. Getting two shutouts to start the year gives our team some confidence going into some bigger games.”
Coming off a third-place finish in the 6A state tournament last year, Hensyel is looking for returners to step up, to take on leadership responsibility, and to play bigger roles.
“Our goal is to be a team that can compete for a state title every year. To try to be one of those teams that is in the mix,” Hensyel said. “The biggest challenge is when you lose a good senior class like we did last year – a great senior class – then who fills that void? Our most experienced guys have to set the tone for how hard we’re going to play.”
WASHBURN RURAL 5, SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 0
Washburn Rural (2-0-0) 2 3 — 5
Shawnee Heights (0-1-0) 0 0 — 0
Washburn Rural — Goals: Hamilton, Kocher-Munoz, Cannon, Willingham, Loeffler. Assists: Hamilton 2, Willingham. Shutout: Cook and Hawks.
Shawnee Heights — Goals: none. Assists: none.
