BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
The Great Bend soccer team played inspired soccer against a powerful Garden City squad. The Buffaloes avoided the Panthers' upset bid 2-1 on a goal with 49 seconds left in regulation time.
The game was a minute from extra time when Garden City's Marvin Fierro rocketed a shot past goalie Edwin Chavez.
The Panthers built momentum after halftime and controlled the game's second-half tempo. The offensive pressure paid off when Juan Sanchez tied the score 1-1 on a penalty kick (63:22) that beat goalie Daniel Zamaripa.
Time-after-time, the Panthers' Chavez stopped quality shots by Bryant Tomayo, Fierro and David Hernandez for a scoreless tie at halftime.
Garden City's Kevin Ramos (58:18) broke the scoreless tie with a perfectly lofted goal that escaped Panther goalie Chavez for a 1-0 lead.
Garden City (7-2, 4-1 WAC) pushed 6A state champion Dodge City to overtime, but had trouble escaping the upset bid against Great Bend (3-6-1, 1-3-1 WAC).
The Panthers played inspired soccer without head coach Jesus Loera, who missed the game. Panthers Jonathan Pasos, Alex Galindo, Carlos Soto and Gustavo Alvarado all had quality shots on goal after halftime.
"We proved we can play with anybody," said Great Bend coach Aldo Rodriguez. "Our guys found it within themselves. This is one of our best soccer games. We're getting closer to our ability."
The Panthers played one of their finest games by quickly moving the ball from player-to-player.
"It was a great performance. When you play like that and see the effort, it's great," said Rodriguez. "We played really well and come up a little short."
Rodriguez liked the pace of play, especially after halftime.
"We worked on distributing the ball and letting go of the soccer ball," Rodriguez said. "We worked on building up our play and didn't get anxious and sending balls down the field."
Goalie Chavez was keyed by defenders Brian Cervantes, Jaden Hartshorn, Juan Sanchez, Salvador Garcia, Gustavo Alvarado and Carlos Batres.
"Our defense played solid. We played well out of the back. We need to work on the attacking side."
The high-spirited game was tightly officiated with three yellow cards passed out to each team.
The Panthers travel to Hays Thomas More Prep Oct. 5.
