The Great Bend High School boys’ soccer team advanced its winning streak to four games after beating Western Athletic Conference foe Hays on Monday night.
The Panthers advance their record to 4-1 overall, 1-1 in the WAC, with a 3-1 victory at Memorial Stadium.
The game started slow, with a 0-0 tie going into the half, but the Panthers came out firing in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
“I think my players were too confident in the first half, and some of them were tired after the game on Saturday,” GBHS head coach Gus Prieto said. “We played really hard. I talked to them at halftime and I said that nothing is free. Why don’t you go and win the game? We need to switch, do something different and play 100 percent of the field, and they did.
“It was like a different game. We made several shots in the first 10 minutes of the second half. I think we hit the post two or three times.”
After a couple of shots on goal, Noel Rodriguez broke the scoreless tie on a free kick from 28 yards away.
The shot went around the defensive wall and beat the Hays goalkeeper on the far side of the goal.
“My team changed in the second half,” Gus Prieto said. “We know we need to go in a little more. We know we need to control the ball a little more when the other team tries to play too hard. When the other team tries to play too fast.
“I told them, ‘We know how to do it. We know how to play. Just play your soccer. Play like you guys know how to do it, and you’re going to score.’”
Just three minutes later, Hays equalized on a penalty kick after a GBHS player was called for a foul in the penalty box. Lane Clark beat Great Bend goalkeeper Claudio Sanchez to make the score 1-1.
“It was a good game,” Gus Prieto said of Hays. “They run around a lot. They have good speed, but now I think that we played a lot better in the second half. That’s the thing.”
The game remained tied until the 18:47 mark.
The Panthers Mario Espino made a no-look pass to Alexander Urias, who drilled a shot.
The Hays goalie got a hand on the ball, knocking it into the top goalpost, and Michael Prieto ran in to finish the play, putting the Panthers up 2-1.
With 11 minutes remaining, Urias scored the final goal of the game, getting the ball at the top of the penalty box and burying the ball into the net.
Great Bend is back in action on Tuesday, Sept. 20, when it travels to Hays.