WICHITA, Kan.—
Wichita Trinity boy’s soccer escaped with a win against 3-1 win against Class 5A Bishop Carroll on Tuesday despite a poor performance.After scoring his usual goal to put the Knights up 1-0, Regan Billings was on the wrong side of a slide tackle. Billings fell to the ground in pain and laid there without the ability to move his knee. Understandably many people in the crowd grew nervous as the Knights’ season could have been hanging in the balance.
Luckily for the Knights Billings was able to recover and get off the field on his own power and he expects to be on the field for their next game Saturday at Wichita North.
After Carroll tied the score, Trinity’s Ben Mosley put the Knights back up on top with a goal after Jordan Kinnevan dribbled through seven defenders to get his cross in. The Knights then went into halftime with the lead.
The second half was dominated by midfield play with a couple nice runs from Trinity’s Ryan Miller. The best run Miller made was capped off by a beautiful left-footed chip-in from outside the 18-yard box that went off the Goalie’s outstretched hand into the goal. The goal came with 2:30 left in the game to seal the Knights ending of their two-game losing streak with a score of 3-1.
Despite the win, the Knights weren’t very impressive. Their defense was suspect and goalie Drew Burke had to block the most shots he had to all season. Burke would have had to save many more if it wasn’t for the stalwart defense of Zach Werhan.
In the midfield the Knights effort was lacking endurance and it showed in their play. With four games in seven days though, almost should be expected.
“I was frustrated with the effort and endurance,” said Coach Tom Nykamp. “I did it to myself with the schedule.”
Offensively the Knights were pretty impressive. Billings has been the focal point of the offense for three years and without him the Knights were still able to put goals on the board.
“When [Billings] went out I wanted to see their resolve,” said Nykamp. “I wanted to see Werhan step up on defense and Kinnevan step up in the midfield, and I saw that.”
Trinity takes the field again at 4:30 p.m. next Tuesday, Sept. 20 at Wichita North.
