ANDOVER, Kan.—
What looked like an inevitable tie turned into a win for the Andover Central soccer team on Tuesday evening. With four seconds left in overtime, Andover Central sophomore Benn Gallmann put one through the net to beat rival Andover 2-1.
The overtime goal ended a long scoring drought for both teams.
Lone goals came within a few minutes of each other midway through the first half.
Andover Central struck first with a goal from sophomore Matt Hamm at the 21:16 mark. Senior Jake Gentzler assisted on the goal.
Andover struck right back with a goal from sophomore Tyler Kvasnicka at the 22:25 mark. Junior Ben Loflin was credited with the assist.
“I thought both teams were very balanced and I thought the game was evenly matched throughout,” Andover head coach Tracey Repp said. “Both teams had their moments where they played a little unsettled and the other team capitalized but I thought overall both teams were very well matched.”
A defeat at the hands of a rival was not the only loss Andover suffered.
With 1:31 left in the second half all state senior Tyler Drumm went down hard grabbing his lower leg. He was carted off the field and sent immediately to a hospital for x-rays.
“He’s a quality player. It’s hard to replace someone with that much experience and who’s that big and strong and capable of doing good things for us,” Repp said. “I just told the group that we’re still going to have 11 (players) on the field whether he is there or not and I expect somebody to step up.”
“Tyler Drumm going down for Andover was a huge loss for them,” Andover Central head coach Mark Brooks said. “He was a great player. He was one of the main reasons why that team is as good as they are now. He was a leader and it’s just a bad deal for him to go down like that.”
Although both teams tend to crank up the intensity a notch when playing one another, Repp believes both teams played fair regardless of the injury.
“I think both sides took what they gave,” Repp said. “I don’t think either team was out to hurt each other. It was just physical and that’s just usually the way that it is.”
Brooks agrees.
“It’s going to be physical no matter what,” he said. “Every year it’s a blood bath.
This is nothing new. It’s a battle royal to say the least.”
