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Stars align right for Busters' Shaw
Published 10/28/2008 in None : GCCC
By MIKE KESSINGER
In some way it was like the stars were aligned for Steve Shaw to return to Garden City Community College.
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Brad Nading/Telegram - Garden City Community College forward Steve Shaw tries to get the ball past a Cowley County goalkeeper during a game earlier this month at Memorial Stadium. In his second time in Garden City, Shaw is again leading the Busters in goals as they enter Region VI tournament play tonight against Neosho County.
Almost two years after he had played his freshman season on the first ever Broncbusters soccer team, Shaw was back in Garden City. At the time he had no plans to return to college, but he returned to deal with personal issues that needed to be resolved. Shaw had left Garden City following his freshman year in 2006. To say the least, the Albuquerque, N.M., native wasn't happy to be at a school in Southwest Kansas, more than 150 miles from any metropolitan area, and even farther from his hometown. He committed to Garden City after his senior year of high school, joining a group of four others that became known as the Albuquerque contingent by their coach, Jeff Huffman. One of the four commitments the Busters landed was Kyle French, Shaw's best friend. The contingent helped lead the Broncbusters to a successful 12-3-1 campaign in its inaugural 2005 season, and French left at the end of the semester. Shaw, who led the Busters in scoring, never really felt connected enough to stay once French left.
"I don't want to put down Garden City, but it was just the community. I was raised in a big city," Shaw said. "That's where all my friends are at. I came out here with my best friend, and then he left. I didn't really feel like I was close to anyone out here. I just wanted to go back home and not really be with my family, but be with my friends."
It was how Shaw's story in Garden City seemed to end.
However, his story would end that way as he returned before the 2007 school year, and while in town, he stopped by newly appointed head coach Stephen Gorton's office to talk. He had no plans to make an arrangement to come back and play with one year of junior college eligibility left. Gorton had been a Busters assistant coach for two years and so the two knew each other. By the time their visit was over, Gorton was convinced he wanted Shaw to return.
"(Steve) came by and we were talking and one thing led to another and I was like 'you know what, you made a stupid decision. You should come back here and play,'" Gorton said. "That's kind of how it happened. I think I called the 'Pita Pit' where he worked a couple of times just to stay on him about it."
The thing was, Shaw did miss playing. He would get in a few pick-up games in Albuquerque, but it wasn't what Shaw really wanted, so he returned to Garden City and red-shirted the 2007 season. With a year to work his way back into shape, Shaw diligently became the player the Busters needed him to be coming into a season with so many new players and so much talent.
"I think right now, we're a lot better," Shaw said comparing the two Buster teams he's played on. "This year we just have an all around good team. We have a really deep team -- we're a better team."
Just as he did his freshman season, Shaw is leading the Busters in goals and points. His 20 goals rank 17th in the nation. And unlike that first team, this year's Garden City team is ranked, a program first. It has been the kind of season Shaw and Gorton imagined it could be, but there is still more left for the No. 10-ranked program to accomplish.
"It feels good, but I think we should be a little bit better than that, we should be higher ranked," Gorton said. "We lost a game we shouldn't have, and there's consequences for it, but it doesn't matter our ranking as long as we go into the playoffs and win games, and show in an appearance at the national tournament. That's what really counts."
Now's the time for Garden City (14-1-1) to prove its worth, and this is what Shaw has been waiting for. In his freshman season, the Busters were knocked off by Neosho County on the Memorial Stadium turf in a No. 4 and 5-seeded first round game of Region VI. Tonight, the Busters who beat Neosho 1-0 in their first meeting this season Oct. 4, will have the chance Shaw has been waiting for to exact revenge on the Panthers for that game three years ago.
"I scored a goal and it was 1-0," Shaw said remembering the 2005 Region VI game. "Then with like 15 minutes left, they put two goals in right away. We should have beaten them. I hate that team. I'm so happy we got them for the playoffs."
While he takes pain pills for an injury (torn tendons in his shoulder) he suffered five minutes into the Busters lone loss -- a 1-0 setback to Johnson County on Sept. 27 -- forcing him to miss two games. Shaw hasn't missed a beat this season. The bond he's made with fellow forwards Mario Ojeda and Fedarico Agreda has made Garden City a potent offensive machine. It's just the way Gorton wanted to imagine it.
"I think everything happens for a reason," Gorton said. "I think it was a blessing for him that he had to red-shirt last year to be on this team and to be where he's at, so it's worked out well."
After this season, Shaw plans to move to a four-year college and play. He is looking at Rockhurst College in Kansas City, Mo. and Midwestern State in Wichita Falls, Texas. But for now, the focus is moving on to Topeka if the Busters win tonight. A victory against Neosho would set Garden City up in Saturday's semifinal at Hummer Sports Complex for a 2 p.m. game against the winner of the Johnson County-Allen County game. The Region VI championship is Sunday at 1 p.m. at Hummer Sports Complex.
Who: Neosho Panthers (5-13-1) at Garden City Broncbusters (14-1-1), Region VI tournament, first-round playoff game
When: 8 p.m. today
Where: Memorial Stadium
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