Boys soccer team takes 2nd in own tourny

Tanner Jones, Sports Co-Editior
September 26, 2009
Filed under Boys Soccer, Sports

The Belton soccer team created results at the Belton Invitational on Sept. 24 and 25. The team got a bye in the first round, and played the Vanhorn Falcons in round two. The team took the match with of victory 3-1, taking them straight into the finals to face off against St. Pius X. St. Pius had previously defeated Harrisonville and Northeast high school.

 The final match began Saturday at noon, after the match of Harrisonville and Vanhorn for third. After the nation anthem, the teams took their places and the match began. The field was a little moist and one of the goalie boxes was a complete mud pit, but both teams were ready.

St. Pius X came out strong, putting a lot of pressure on the Pirates. The Pirates had trouble getting their possessing down allowing St. Pius X to put more pressure and have more attempts for a goal. Forward for St. Pius X, Conner Parish, scoring three goals in the first half. His ability to receive passes through the defensive line put a hassle on the defense. Parish had already scored eight goals alone in the tournament. When half time came, St. Pius X was up three to zero. But the Pirates were not giving up, completely turning up the intensity for the second half. The Pirates came out hard the second half putting a lot of pressure on St. Pius X, like they had done to the Pirates the half before. Their passing connected and their defense was able to completely shut down the St. Pius X offense, including their forward Perish. Senior Ronnie Scott and junior Eric Lopez worked a lot at shutting Perish down. St. Pius X were only able to have a few attempts on goal which were kept out by the goalie, senior Tanner Jones.

While the defense was stepping it up, the Pirate offense was taking control of most of the second half. The attempts they had to score more than doubled, which allowed them to score two goals.

The first goal for the Pirates came from senior Bach “Bino” Nguyen-Ngoc, with a header from an assist from senior Derek Hamilton. The cross came from the outside and made it to the back of the goal where Nguyen-Ngoc was coming up and was able to head and place it in the back of the net. The second goal for the Pirates was scored by senior Stian Lockert. The ball was rolling towards the St. Pius X goalie while a defender was shielding for him to come pick it up, but Lockert used his speed to get around the defended and flick the ball over the goalie getting another goal for the Pirates.

The Pirates tried hard to get another goal in order to tie the game, but were unsuccessful. The team was able to come back from a tough half and put the other team on their heels. The final score of the game was 3-2, St. Pius X. This was the first time the Belton soccer team has placed second in their own tournament since, previous coach Pete Dakis’ first year coaching.