Boys’ soccer comes through in a must-win face-off with Basehor-Linwood
Junior forward James Henggeler dribbles past a Basehor-Linwood defender at the home soccer game on Sept. 25.
Put simply, this was the game the boys’ soccer team needed. After losing a close decision to Mill Valley and suffering a heartbreaking tie against Kansas City Christian, the Wildcats needed to right the ship. They did just that on Sept. 25, cruising to a 4-0 victory over conference opponent Basehor-Linwood, improving to 2-6-1 on the season.
Head coach Drew Proctor commented that the sense before this game was that “one thing after another” had gone wrong in each of the previous losses, but that the team was able to turn that trend against the Bobcats.
“Last night we got scored on with 16 seconds left in regular time,” Proctor added. “ … so for us to put a complete game together, that’s good for us.”
It was also the first win that featured varsity senior striker Daniel Apple, who had been sidelined for seven months prior with various leg injuries.
“He’s extremely technically skilled. He’s extremely smart, and he helps organize things,” Proctor said of Apple’s play. “It’s huge having someone that’s comfortable playing with their back to goal with the ball at their feet. Everything that you have to have in a striker like that, he is, and that’s exactly what we need right now.”
Apple was excited to make the return to the pitch and have an immediate impact. The team leader in goals scored last season has already scored in each of the three games he has played this season, including against Basehor.
“I was able to get on the scoresheet today, and it feels good to connect some passes and get moving out on the field with the guys,” Apple said. “It feels really good to get a win and hopefully we can string a couple good wins together and start getting back in form.”
Besides Apple, senior defender Sean Eggers and senior midfielder Rohan Singh both put headers by the BLHS keeper, and junior midfielder Ian Endres also added a late score. Proctor has been especially impressed by Eggers’ consistency and versatility on the pitch.
“Sean Eggers has been having some great games lately. He defends well, he’s getting up the field well, I mean, we’re asking a lot of him physically, and he’s doing exactly what we asked for,” Proctor said.
Despite the slow start, the team still has the chance to win the conference title by winning out from this point. They are also optimistic about their capabilities during the postseason as they continue to work out the kinks in their play.
“We’re still trying to win the league [conference]. We have a chance, [but] we’ve got to win every single game,” Singh said. “I believe our team is solid. We should be able to get through the Regional.”
“We’ve had a lot of injury problems, and we’ve had a lot of unlucky results, but we’re all fully aware that we’re a great team and we have incredibly talented players,” Apple agreed. “We were just waiting for something to go our way and today we’re lucky that happened.”
The boys’ soccer team will be back in action for a rematch against conference rival Lansing on Sept. 27.
Meet Sam Hubert. Sam has been a member of the Green Pride for 3 years and is excited to take the helm of the newspaper as an Editor-in-Chief this year....