BY JIM MISUNAS
Senior Night was a moment that Dani Franco and his Great Bend soccer teammates will always treasure.
Franco converted three goals and Chiny Sanchez continued his sparkling midfield play to spark a 10-0 non-league victory over Wichita Independent at Memorial Stadium.
Seniors Dani Franco, Mauricio Hernandez, Salvador Montelongo, Eduardo Galvan were honored at their final home game.
The Panthers (5-8) play at Western Athletic Conference power Dodge City (12-1) Tuesday. The Red Demons beat Great Bend 2-1 in their first meeting.
The Panthers’ defenders led to passing for transition to offense. The midfielders dominated possession and fed passes to their speedy scorers.
“Chiny Sanchez has really figured out his responsibility of setting up his teammates for scoring opportunities,” said Great Bend coach Jesus Loera. “He’s got the speed to take the ball and with it. But he’s learning to be versatile. He’s setting his guys up. A good example was his give-and-go play.”
Sanchez’s assist ignited a 6-goal first half with a perfect pass to Franco at the 32:01 mark. The Panthers scored five goals in the next eight minutes. Oscar Martinez hit the post with a shot and Humberto Alonzo’s deflection led to Chiny Sanchez’s goal.
Sanchez and Humberto Alonzo connected with a perfect give-and-go that Alonzo converted at the 16:02 mark. Simon Hernandez won ball possession that led to Armando Leyva’s goal at the 13:14 mark.
The Independent goalie failed to get a break when a teammate kicked the soccer ball into his own goal for a 5-0 Panther margin.
Sanchez’s persistent hustle keyed Francisco Garcia’s goal at the 9:19 mark for a 6-0 halftime lead.
Rain started pelting Memorial Stadium after halftime, but it more of the Dani Franco show. Armando Leyva directed a pass for Franco’s third goal (33:33) and Juan Sanchez’s assist keyed Franco’s fourth goal (30:50).
Eduardo Galvan converted a penalty kick (25:54) and Johnny Pasos scored a goal to end the game with 5:07 left in the second half.
“What was pleasing was we moved the ball really well in a full rotation,” Loera said. “We lost our passing game for a few minutes, but we got back to our game plan and started working together again like we want to. That’s the team game we have to play every game.”
