Dodge City outlasted Great Bend 4-3 in Thursday's hotly-contested Western Athletic Conference soccer game at Cavanaugh Field.
Great Bend (5-4, 2-2 WAC) scored a pair of second-half goals by Johnathon Pasos (21:00), and Oscar Martinez (20:00) after trailing 4-1 against Dodge City (6-2, 3-1 WAC). The fast was fast from the start as both teams showed off their offensive speed.
"That's a winnable game," said Great Bend coach Jesus Loera. "We pressed well and stayed composed. I was proud of the effort. We fought together and regrouped. We outpossessed them."
But the first half cost the Panthers. Dodge City's Carlos Rayon Lopez (14:32), high-flying Diego Olivares (13:12) and Erubiel Duron scored first-half goals. Great Bend's Jesus "Chiny" Sanchez scored the Panthers' first-half goal (33:33) on a perfect assist by Juan Sanchez.
"We made a few first-half mistakes and Dodge City capitalized," Loera said. "We had a miscommunication on the first goal and didn't pressure enough. We lost the battle in the midfield for a few minutes. It was a game where both teams tried to get to the goal as fast as you could."
WAC SOCCER
Liberal 3-0 4-2
Dodge City 3-1 7-2
Garden City 2-2 5-3
Great Bend 2-2 5-4
Hays High 0-5 2-9
TUESDAY
Garden City at Great Bend, 4 p.m.
Hays-TMP at Liberal
Junction City at Hays High
THURSDAY
*Liberal at Hays High
*Dodge City at Garden City
LIBERAL (4-2, 3-0)—Titan Classic (W Wichita Carroll 1-0; L Derby 2-0; L Dodge CIty 2-3, OT); *Great Bend 2-0; W Dodge City 3-1; W Garden City 3-0; W Lamar, Colo. 10-0; 10-1—Hays-TMP; 10-3—*at Hays High; 10-8—*Garden City; 10-10—*at Hays High; 10-14-19—Wichita North Cup; 10-21—*at Great Bend; 10-24—*Dodge City
DODGE CITY (7-2, 3-1)—Titan Classic (W Wichita East 3-1; L Wichita Heights 3-4, OT; W Liberal 3-2, OT); W Wichita South 9-1; W Lamar, Colo. 9-1; L *Liberal 1-3; W *Hays 4-0; W *Garden City 1-0; W *Great Bend 4-3; 10-3—*at Garden City; 10-8—*Hays High; 10-12—at St. Thomas Aquinas; 10-15—*Great Bend; 10-18—SM South; 10-19—Lawrence Free State; 10-24—*at Liberal
GARDEN CITY (5-3, 2-2)—Titan Classic (L Maize 4-3; W Wichita NW 4-3; W Hays 3-1); 9-12—*W Hays 2-1; 9-17—W TMP 10-0; 9-19—*L Liberal 0-3; L *Dodge City 0-1; W *Hays High 2-1; 10-1—*at Great Bend; 10-3—*DODGE CITY; 10-8—*at Liberal; 10-10—*Great Bend; 10-14-17-19—at Wichita North Cup; 10-21—TMP
GREAT BEND (5-4, 2-2)—Titan Classic (L Wichita Southeast 2-3; W Wichita South 4-1; W Wichita West 6-0); W Salina Central 4-0; *Liberal, L 0-2; *Hays, W 4-0; Manhattan L 1-2, OT; W *Hays 2-0; L *Dodge City 3-4; 10-1—*Garden City; 10-8—at Hays-TMP; 10-10—*at Garden City; 10-14—at Wichita Independent; 10-15—*at Dodge City; 10-21—*Liberal; 10-24—McPherson
HAYS HIGH (2-9, 0-5)—W Wichita Independent 4-1; W Classical 4-2; Titan Classic (L Classical 1-2; W Circle 10-0; L Garden City 1-2); L Salina Central 0-3 L *Great Bend 0-4; L *Dodge City 0-4; L *Great Bend 0-2; L Buhler 0-5; L *Garden City 1-2; 10-1—Junction City; 10-3—*Liberal; 10-8—*at Dodge City; 10-10—*Liberal; 10-22—Wichita Independent; 10-24—at TMP
