Boys’ soccer wins big over Eudora

Sophomore Daniel Apple volleys the ball past a Eudora defender on Oct. 3.

Wildcat Photo

Sophomore Daniel Apple volleys the ball past a Eudora defender on Oct. 3.

The De Soto High School boys’ soccer team defeated Eudora High School by a score of 5-0, breaking a two-game losing streak on Oct. 3. This improved the team’s conference record to 6-1, and their overall record to 8-3.

The Wildcats started slowly. The scoreboard was empty until junior Ethan Rodriguez scored with 3:39 remaining in the first half, giving the Wildcats a one-goal lead going into the break.

The Wildcats began to pull away late in the match with two more goals from Rodriguez, marking his third hat trick of the season. Two more goals from sophomore Daniel Apple gave DHS a hefty margin of five goals. This is the team’s third shutout on the season.

“I think the game went well,” Apple said. “The first half was a little rough, but we motivated ourselves and came out strong the second half.”

Even after a big win, the team highlighted a need to stay focused on the rest of the practices and games, not getting too far ahead of themselves.

“We haven’t talked much about going to State or Regionals,” said sophomore Carson Brier. “We are just taking it one step at a time.”

Recently, DHS was reclassified as a 5A ranked school by the Kansas State High School Activities Association based on an overall increase in enrollment this year. DHS grew by almost 100 students from last year.

This reclassification means that all sports except for football will meet new competition at Regional and State games from other schools with similarly large enrollment. This includes soccer.

“This year will be different because of the change to 5A,” Brier said. “I think that if we really work for it and use our practices to get better, we should have a good chance, but it won’t be easy.”