Goals haven’t come easy for the Great Bend High School girls’ soccer team this season — until now.
In the last two days, the Lady Panthers have scored 11, including a 6-1 win on Tuesday against Wichita Southeast at Cavanaugh Field.
“When we started the game, we had four chances to score in four minutes,” GBHS head coach Gus Prieto said. “So yeah, we’re getting better. Before, we could say that injuries were affecting us, but now we can say that we have probably 90 percent of the team back.
“They look stronger. They are playing better together.”
It was a rematch of the opening round of the Wichita South Titans Classic, a 2-1 loss.
“I was a little nervous coming into the game,” Gus Prieto said. “We played them at the Titans Classic, and they beat us 2-1. We controlled the ball there in the first half, and we could have scored probably five goals. We missed some chances to score, but Summer (Bates), my forward, got hurt. They came back and beat us.”
Kenzie Sinclair scored the first goal for Great Bend, which is 4-8-2 overall this season, but Souteast’s Rosa Urista tied the game at one apiece on an Amalia Miranda-Cortez assist.
Morgan Harwood gave Great Bend a 2-1 advantage which held to halftime.
For the first 25 minutes of the second half, the Lady Panthers had numerous chances to score utilizing Great Bend’s speed, but it wasn’t until Alejandra Molina punched an unassisted goal past Lady Buffaloes goalkeeper Jessica Elting that they found their stride.
“We are using our speed,” Gus Prieto said. “We make good passes, especially at center mid. They are passing the ball good for our forwards. They have good speed. We lost 20 chances to score this game, and maybe more.”
Just two minutes later, Brandi Schneider cleaned up after Elting knocked down a cross from Sinclair. Schneider took advantage of the loose ball and placed it in the net.
Schneider scored again shortly after intercepting a clearing kick from the defense. She drove a shot into the far corner to make it 5-1 Great Bend.
“She is getting better,” Gus Prieto said. “We’re still working with them. She played midfielder all the time and now we’re switching to forward. She’s learning pretty good. I think she’ll be really strong by next week.”
Berenice Prieto scored the final goal with a long shot from outside the goalie’s box that cleared Elting’s head. Sinclair got the assist.
GBHS takes a week off before traveling to McPherson on Tuesday.