CJ Staff Report
Frankfort — The Southwestern boys soccer team traveled to Frankfort Saturday afternoon to take on Western Hills high school.
The Warriors scored four goals in the contest as they beat the Wolverines and netted their 9th shutout of the season.
The Wolverines set the tone as they out hustled the Warriors in the middle and won most of the early 50-50 balls. Southwestern was able to shake off the slow start when their offense kicked into gear in the sixth minute of the contest. Junior striker Chris Campbell took the ball on a breakaway past the Wolverine defense and drove it into the box for a 1-on-1 with keeper Mark Davis. Campbell took a hard shot at the goal that was deflected up into the air by Davis. As both players scrambled for the ball, Campbell trapped it, made a quick sideways move on Davis and then shot a second time into the open net for the score. Both teams moved the ball well between the boxes with the Warrior offense creating several scoring opportunities while the Warrior defense limited the Wolverines to only a couple of attempts inside the box. Both teams had several opportunities from set plays on corners and throw-ins but neither was able to convert. With two minutes remaining in the half, Southwestern put a second score on the board after Chris Campbell took the ball on another quick breakaway. Campbell shot from inside the box but the Wolverine keeper deflected the shot with a diving save. Warrior midfielder Niklas Nielsen trapped the deflection and flicked it to Florian Klett who was streaking in near the post. Klett caught the pass and nailed the shot behind the downed keeper for the score. Southwestern ended the half out shooting the Wolverines 10-4.
The Warriors opened the second half with a deep Jeremy Nissen kickoff that was on target but nicely fielded by the keeper just in front of the goal line. Southwestern made a couple of quick opening shots but Western Hills continued to win the majority of the 50-50's in the midfield. Wolverine senior striker Emmanuel Nfor seemed to be everywhere as he took the ball into Warrior territory and then would hustle back to play defense for his team. At the 47-minute mark, Nfor and senior teammate Ryan Ueltschi tag teamed the ball into the Warrior box and Nfor shot for the score. Southwestern Keeper Michael Wright deflected the hard shot to Wolverine striker Jordan Cary who quickly shot a second time. Wright again deflected the shot and then dove for the cover and the save just as Nfor reached the ball. Southwestern dominated the next ten minutes of play keeping the ball deep into Wolverine territory. At the 57-minute mark, Southwestern defender Jeremy Nissen threw the ball into the center of the Wolverine box where Niklas Nielsen headed it into the air. Junior Eric Bird caught the header and shot to the far post to put the Warriors up 3-0. A minute later, Southwestern speedster Chris Campbell threaded his way down the left side of the field and took the ball deep into the Warrior box for another 1-on-1 with keeper Davis. Davis came out from in front of the goal in an attempt to cover the ball as Campbell flicked the ball to the side to teammate Niklas Nielsen. Nielsen shot on the run into the open net for the score giving the Warriors a comfortable four-point lead. Western Hills continued to battle but the Warrior defense dug in and got the job done until time ran out giving them another shutout win.
Southwestern out shot Western Hills 9-5 in the second half of play.
After the game, Warrior head coach James Ray was nothing but complimentary of the Wolverines. “Western Hills always has a pretty good team. They were a little young this year but had some very skilled players who absolutely played hard. I don't know if you can find too many other teams in the state who get after it like they do. Every 50-50 ball they definitely challenge on and if you're not ready to come and get after the ball, they'll beat you every time.” Talking about his own team, Coach Ray added, “Defensively, I thought we played another great game getting another shutout on the season. Our back four and keeper are getting the job done. Offensively up top we are finishing but we've got just a little work to do to get our midfield ready to go to be able to win more of the 50-50 balls. Overall, we played pretty well but we still need to do some of the little things that need to happen for us to be a really good team going into the post season this year.”
The win moves the Warriors to 10-3-1 on the year and puts them at the top of the 15th Region.
