The Great Bend High School boys’ soccer team lost their season opener Thursday against Liberal High School, 10-0.
The game was called with about 20 minutes left in regulation, when Liberal scored their 10th goal.
“They were bigger, stronger and taller than we are,” Panthers head coach Gus Prieto said. “They had nine seniors and we have only one.”
The Panthers played well for the first 15 minutes, even getting a couple scoring chances, Prieto said.
The first scoring chance for the Panthers came early when Jose Mijares broke away with only the goalie to beat. His shot was too soft and the goalie stopped it, Prieto said.
The second chance was on a long shot from Oscar Torres. The shot went high and hit the crossbar.
Defensively, the Panthers played a majority of the game without one of their starters.
“The center of our defense got injured in the first minute of the game,” Prieto said. “Our sweeper, Kevin Morales came out at the beginning of the game.
“You practice 17 days with one defense and you lose your center. It’s no good.”
Liberal scored seven of their 10 goals in the first half.
“They were really fast,” Prieto said. “It is really tough to play against older guys.”