Andover Central was simply dominant in all phases Thursday, shutting down Goddard for a 4-0 victory to cap its regular season at 11-5.
“This team is certainly not lacking on goal-scoring ability and talent when it comes to putting the ball in the back of the net,” said Greg Hewitt, Andover Central head coach. “We are a threat from a variety of different angles. It is fun to watch these guys play.”
Junior Tanner Conrad opened the scoring early, tapping in a rebound to put the Jaguars ahead 1-0.
“He was in the right spot at the right time, and showed a lot of patience and discipline making that run, because 99 times your goalie is going to wrap it up,” Hewitt said.
Cole Kretchmar added an insurance goal 12 minutes in, taking a header on a throw-in from Zach Meeker.
The Jaguars led 3-0 at halftime. Jarrett Whitcomb slowed the ball down from 20 yards out 20 minutes into the second half, skidding a goal into the left corner to give Andover Central its 4-0 victory.
Goddard encountered few opportunities on offense. When the Lions did, they were thwarted by Jaguar goalkeeper Chris Watts.
“We are dealing with a pretty young Goddard team. We were commenting on the bench that we were basically that same team two years ago,” Hewitt said. “We know exactly where they are at, and they’ll be a tough team down the road. Right now their fundamentals are good, they’re just physically kind of small.”
Despite an 11-win season, Hewitt was not satisfied with the team’s record. He said it was no fault of his players, but of his own learning experiences. Outside of a loss to Liberal, Hewitt felt the Jaguars could have flipped the final result on their losses.
“As a first year coach, I should have done a lot better job preparing these guys,” he said. “The boys did everything they could to win. If I had prepared them a bit better, those would have all been victories. I can walk away from this thing accepting that we got beat in one game, but the other ones the boys didn’t get beat, I did.”
Andover Central and Goddard will both begin 5A regional play on Tuesday.
