WICHITA — The Great Bend High School boys’ soccer team secured a 1-0 win over Dodge City in the second round of the Wichita Titans Classic on Thursday evening.
With the win, the Panthers improve to 3-0 on the season, but it doesn’t count toward their Western Athletic Conference record.
Senior midfielder Jose Mijares scored the game-winning goal with 23 minutes remaining in the game.
“Jose Mijares was playing center midfielder for Javier (Guerra) today,” GBHS head coach Gus Prieto said. “Javier was sick today, so Jose filled in and played center with Mario (Espino). They did a good job controlling the ball. I think it was one of their best games.”
Mijares got the ball outside the Dodge City goalie’s box, and sent a pass to senior forward Alex Urias.
Urias completed the give-and-go play with a pass back to Mijares for a one-on-one with the Demons’ goalkeeper for the score.
The Panthers got off to a slow start, but settled in quickly.
“I think they went out there nervous,” Prieto said. “(Dodge City) had a few chances to score in the first 15 minutes of the game, but we started to control the ball better after that.”
Great Bend started the tournament with a 3-0 win over Rose Hill on Monday.
The Panthers advance to Saturday’s championship game against Wichita Northwest, starting at 3 p.m.

                                                                  — Kevin Price