Seven players scored goals for the Cardinals soccer team Tuesday night to help the team defeat Fort Scott 8-0 in the opening round of regionals.
“We played a really smart game tonight and we just connected as a team, which helped us score most of our goals,” senior Derek Lehmann said.
Head coach Darren Erpelding said he loves games where the Cardinals are able to distribute the scoring.
“It’s always good because that means the ball is being shared,” Erpelding said. “If you got one guy scoring four, five, six goals, it may not be being shared as much, or they’re just putting themselves in a great position to score. But tonight, the ball was being knocked around, and it was being shared a lot and guys were putting balls away.”
The team has lofty expectations and goals in mind as the schedule turns to postseason action.
Junior goalkeeper Nate Steinlage said the big win was good for the team to set the tone for the rest of the playoffs.
“Everyone on this team has big goals and this was the first step,” Steinlage said. “We’re taking it one step at a time. Now, we’re on to the next game.”
The weather made its presence felt throughout the game Tuesday as heavy rains soaked both teams.
In fact, the game was moved up from its original 6 p.m. kickoff to 4:30 p.m. due to the chance of thunderstorms later in the evening.
Senior Kaden Kerr said the rain made for tough field conditions, which had an effect on the game.
“Once the rain started coming down really hard, the ball started to stop. There were puddles on the field, so we had to pass the ball a lot harder,” Kerr said.
While there wasn’t much he could do about the field, Erpelding tried to help the team’s visibility by using a yellow ball for the game that was easier to see in the rain.
The downpour didn’t stop the Cardinals from starting the game off by firing shots. Fort Scott’s goalkeeper had four saves just nine minutes into the game.
But Lehmann scored the first goal in the 10th minute to give the Cardinals an early 1-0 lead.
The Cardinals kept creating opportunities, but couldn’t find the back of the net again until about 20 minutes later when senior Ayden Ramirez scored a goal off a Lehmann assist.
Ramirez’s goal sparked a late first-half push for the Cardinals as the team scored three more goals in a span of about seven minutes.
Kerr scored on a penalty kick with about nine and a half minutes left in the first half. Then, senior Christian Koehn scored with 5:20 left on the clock. Then, Lehmann scored his second goal of the night with about two minutes before halftime.
With a 5-0 lead going into the second half, the Cardinals locked in on defense to make sure Fort Scott didn’t have any opportunity to make a comeback.
“Communication. Staying organized. That’s why we were able to complete the shut out,” Erpelding said. “Nate had two tough saves that he made. Great diving save on one, and another one that he stuck on a ball that was up in the air, which is not easy to do when the ball is so wet and the gloves are so wet.”
The Cardinals continued to pad the score when the opportunities were given to them as well.
Senior Isaac Winder, freshman Jude Whalen and junior Max Morford scored goals in the second half to give the Cardinals their 8-0 win.
The team travels to Bishop Miege (13-4-0) Thursday to play the Stags in the regional championship round. Bishop Miege defeated Louisburg 10-0 Tuesday night to advance.
Bishop Miege has won seven straight state soccer titles.
The Cardinals played Bishop Miege early in the season and lost 2-1. Despite the loss, Erpelding said the Cardinals came away with a lot of confidence after barely losing to the toughest of opponents.
“When we played them 2-1, they finally realized, ‘Hey, they’re human. We can play with these guys,’” Erpelding said. “Now, is it going to be a heck of a challenge? 100%. We’re going to have to play our best game to beat them. There’s no doubt about it.”
Lehmann said it would be the sweetest of revenges if the team can find a way to pull off the upset Thursday.
“I think everyone is pumped up. We want to make them lose their winning streak to go to state, and it would just mean a lot to beat them at their place,” Lehmann said.
The Cardinals will play at Bishop Miege at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Here is the rest of the regional bracket.
Reach reporter Jack Denebeim at [email protected]
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