The Garden City Telegram
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High power: GCCC men break loose in Region VI rout
Published 10/29/2008 in None : GCCC
By MIKE KESSINGER
As it goes, keep pressing and the dam will eventually break.
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Laurie Sisk/Telegram - Garden City Community College forward Mario Ojeda attempts a goal against Neosho County during the first half of their Region VI game Tuesday at Memorial Stadium.
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Laurie Sisk/Telegram - Members of the Garden City Community College women's sccer team cheer on the GCCC men on Tuesday night at Memorial Stadium.
All season the Garden City Community College men's soccer team has been able to find the routine fairly common -- score that first goal, and more will follow. The Broncbusters 5-0 win in their Region VI opener kept it the same as the floodgates opened in the first half and Neosho County never had an answer.
"At first it was a little sketchy and we had to get into our groove," Busters forward Steve Shaw said. "We started putting shots into the back of the net. We did what we had to do."
No one was better finding his groove than Shaw, as far as scoring. The Broncbuster sophomore finished with a hat trick, scoring three goals. Shaw's first two came in the opening half, then he added his final goal on a pass from Mariano Leo with 20:10 left in the game.
Shaw, who played on the Busters first team in 2005 that lost to Neosho in the first round of the Region VI playoffs, wasn't the only offensive star. Midfielder Alexis Dominguez finished with two assists, and had a few other passes that could have been converted.
"That kid's amazing," GCCC coach Stephen Gorton said of Dominguez. "He has the ability to be a pro. He's a big-time player, and without him I don't know where we would be. He's a big asset for us."
Garden City (15-1-1) dominated an over-matched Neosho team that lost a tight 1-0 game to the Busters when they played Oct. 4 at Memorial Stadium. In the first meeting, Garden City was without Shaw, who sat out after tearing tendons in a shoulder the week before.
Picking up the win against Neosho was enough to satisfy the Busters' 22-year-old forward when he thinks back to the Panthers ending his freshman season three years ago.
"We came out here and whipped them," Shaw said.
The Busters put pressure on the Panther defense early. The only problem was GCCC couldn't score on their first five shot attempts. It wasn't until Shaw knocked in a pass from Ulises Caba 15 minutes into the game that Garden City really started to hit its stride. In the 29th minute, Shaw sent a pass to forward Mario Ojeda for a goal, then 21 seconds later, Shaw scored to make it 3-0.
Neosho (5-14-1) took just two shots in the first half as the Busters kept the ball on their attacking side of the field much of the first 30 minutes. The final goal of the half came when Dominguez passed to Daniel Martinez for a wide open goal with 4:35 to go before halftime.
GCCC played a more conservative, laid-back style in the second half, using plenty of substitutes. Garden City ended the game with a 29-5 shot advantage.
"I was happy the way the guys came out," Gorton said. "They seemed like they were focused as far as in warm-ups and everything. It looked like they were on a mission, so I'm just guiding them and enjoying the ride."
Garden City, ranked 10th and the No. 2 seed in the Region VI playoffs, will be in Topeka at Hummer Sports Complex for the semifinals Saturday at 2 p.m. The Busters will face No. 6 seed Allen County (7-9-2), who upended No. 3 Johnson County 3-2. Johnson County handed the Busters their lone loss 3-2 in overtime Sept. 27.
The Allen County win against Johnson County wasn't a surprise to Gorton, whose team beat the Red Devils 2-0 on Sept. 20 in Iola.
"That was my upset pick out of the group," Gorton said of Allen County winning on Tuesday. "It kind of happened that way. I wasn't positive it was going to, but either way it's going to be a tough game. It's a semifinal, so it's going to be hard."
A win Saturday will guarantee the Busters a spot in the championship game at 1 p.m. Sunday in Topeka against the winner of the first semifinal game Saturday between No. 1 seed Barton County (19-0-1) and fifth-seeded Kansas City, Kansas (12-9).
Garden City 5, Neosho County 0
Neosho County 0 0 -- 0
Garden City 4 1 -- 5
First half
GCCC -- Shaw (Caba assist), 30:02
GCCC -- Ojeda (Shaw assist), 16:23
GCCC -- Shaw (Dominguez assist), 16:02
GCCC -- Martinez (Dominguez assist), 4:35
Second half
GCCC -- Shaw (Leo assist), 20:10
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