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Busters men, women fall in soccer tests
Published 9/29/2008 in Sports : GCCC
By BRETT MARSHALL
bmarshall@gctelegram.com
On a fall Saturday afternoon that felt more like mid-summer, there were enough reasons for coaches and players to be short in the temper(ature) department when Johnson County Community College visited to the Broncbusters men's and women's soccer teams at Memorial Stadium.
When the doubleheader was finished, both Broncbuster coaches -- Stephen Gorton for the No. 8-ranked men and Jeff Huffman for the women -- were going through the gamut of emotions.
There was disappointment as the men dropped a 3-2 overtime loss to the Cavaliers (their first loss of the season) while the Lady Busters saw an early lead vanish in the second half in falling 2-1.
The loss for Gorton's men was especially distasteful as the Busters' (7-1-1) were playing short-handed, and had its leading scorer, Steve Shaw, go out only 5 minutes, 37 seconds into the game with a separated shoulder.
"It was tough enough just to play at Barton (a tie Wednesday) but then to play short-handed was even more difficult," Gorton said.
Two of his starters -- Mariano Leo and Fedarico Argreda -- had to sit out the Johnson County game due to being red-carded in the Barton contest.
"Our attack was just not as good, and it's always hard to lose," Gorton said. "I don't like excuses and the kids who played today, played hard but that's a lot to ask. We've had back-to-back games against two of the best teams in the conference and we've got to find a way to get it back. There's no time for a rest."
That's because No. 14-ranked Northern Oklahoma arrives today for a 5 p.m. game with the Busters at Memorial Stadium.
"I guess you could call it bad scheduling to have three tough games in five days," Gorton said, "but maybe it will just make us stronger."
Even short-handed, the Busters held their own with the Cavaliers and it took a fortunate fake by Johnson County's Michael Shadfar to get it by Garden City goalkeeper Chris Raines for the winning shot just 58 seconds into the first 10-minute overtime.
The Busters had knotted the score at 2-2 at the 83:27 mark when sophomore Mario Ojeda knocked a penalty kick in past JCCC goalkeeper Sean Craddick. Garden City had wasted little time getting on the board at the game's outset when it scored on a Ojeda breakaway goal just 4 minutes, 25 seconds into the contest. Johnson County's Alex Rathbun knotted the score at 1-1 at the 10:42 mark of the first half when he slipped in a goal past Raines. It remained that way until the 50:12 mark when the Cavaliers took the lead on a Dustin Schiller goal as he outmaneuvered Raines to score an easy goal. Ojeda's second goal had put the Busters into the overtime situation but the extra period didn't last long.
Both Johnson County and Garden City lost players to red card penalties. Raines did manage to make four saves of shots-on-goal for the Busters while Garden City took 12 shots to earn the two goals in regulation.
For the Lady Busters, it was simply too many breakdowns near the end of the second half.
They led 1-0 through the first half when Irma Reyes took a corner kick and put a head-shot into the net at the 13:50 mark for the team's first and what would prove to be their only goal.
"It's the first time we've scored off one of those all year," said Huffman. "We've competed in every game we've been in but are just not getting the little things done at the end. We've got to turn this around because the girls certainly gave a monstrous effort after what happened at Barton County (a 9-0 loss Wednesday)."
The Lady Cavaliers tied the score at 75:04 when Miranda Kirksey got her penalty kick to carom off one of the Lady Busters and made it into the top corner of the goal past a leaping Carrie Hart. It would be Hart who would bemoan the final and winning goal for Johnson County when she was trying to take a short backward pass from a teammate only to see it slip through her hands and into the net for the 2-1 final score and only 2 minutes, 34 seconds left in regulation.
"The deflection is always a tough way to lose and this is making life a little difficult for us at the moment," Huffman said.
The Lady Busters (3-4) have scored just two goals in their last five games, four of those losses. They return to action Tuesday at Arkansas City to face Cowley County in a 7 p.m. game.
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Johnson County 3, GCCC 2 (OT)
Johnson County 1 1 1 -- 3
Garden City 1 1 0 -- 2
Statistics
Shots -- Johnson County 7, Garden City 12. Saves -- Sean Craddick, Johnson County, 10; Chris Raines, Garden City , 4. Goals -- Mario Ojeda, GCCC, 4:25; Alex Rathbun, JCCC, 10:42; Dustin Schiller, JCCC, 50:12; Mario Ojeda, GCCC, 83:27; Michael Shadfar, JCCC, :58 of overtime.
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Johnson County 2, GCCC 1
Johnson County 0 2 -- 2
Garden City 1 0 -- 1
Shots -- Johnson County 16, Garden City 3. Saves -- Johnson County 2; Hart, GCCC, 15. Goals -- Irma Reyes, GCCC, 14:50; Miranda Kirksey, JCCC, 75:04; Kaylee Harkins, JCCC, 87:16.
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