After a rough start to the season, the Great Bend High School boys’ soccer team has won two straight Western Athletic Conference games, defeating Hays 3-1 on Monday evening at Cavanaugh Field.
The Panthers improve to 2-3 on the season and 2-0 in WAC action.
“We’re feeling better, especially since we didn’t start well this year,” Great Bend head coach Gus Prieto said. “We lost those three games in the Titans Classic, but we’re getting better.
“They’re getting faster. They’re passing the ball faster. They can play long or short passes. Our defense is playing better than those first three games. I hope we can continue this.”
Possession went back and forth as the wet grass made things difficult for both teams.
Senior midfielder Rafael Arias scored Great Bend’s first goal with 15:57 remaining in the first half.
Emmanuel Poblano placed a corner kick in the goalie’s box, but the ball was cleared back to the side by the Hays defense.
Poblano was there to recover the loose ball and send a pass to Arias, who drilled a shot into the net.
“I was so happy that I scored the first goal,” Arias said. “It wakes everybody up. We start pressuring more, playing harder. The ball just ended up at my feet somehow, so I just took the shot.”
Early in the second half, Poblano scored a goal of his own, getting a rebound off Hays goalkeeper Sheldon Sulzman after Michael Prieto took a shot on goal.
“We need to try to finish every single play,” Gus Prieto said. “We’ve been working on that a lot. Sometimes, we’ve got somebody getting the ball, but we need someone else to go along with him because sometimes that happens. Sometimes you get the rebound off the keeper, so we’re working on that.”
Michael Prieto scored Great Bend’s final goal, running down a long pass over the Indians’ defense and blasting a shot through the hands of Sulzman to give the Panthers a 3-0 advantage.
With 5:41 remaining, Hays sophomore Riley Zimmerman used a front-flip throw-in from out of bounds to place the ball inside the Great Bend goalie’s box. Shawn Herrman controlled the ball and scored the Indians’ lone goal.
Great Bend plays host to Junction City on Thursday. The junior varsity game starts at 4 p.m. at Cavanaugh Fields, with the varsity game following.