Undefeated boys soccer teams put their records to the test Thursday night

WICHITA, Kan. (Catch it Kansas) - A couple boys soccer games Thursday night, defending 6A state champs Dodge City traveled to Great Bend, looking to remain undefeated.

Also looking to stay out of the loss column, Maize South hoping to move to 7-0.

At Heights Thursday evening, starting in the first half.

Off the Heights throw in, a couple headers made it back to Gavin Bowman who settled it down. He fed it ahead to the goal and slipped it through the keeper’s hands. Vitor Geromel is there to take advantage of the loose ball and kicked it in for the goal. Mavs led 1-0.

Geromel fed the ball to Peyton Wilson in front of the net, he turned and put a boot on it. He slid it right past a diving Kaden Classen to the back corner. Maize South bumped up to a 2-0 lead.

Oscar Vitela tried to take the ball down the sideline for Heights. He was knocked into by a defender and by the time he caught up to the ball, Payton Simon slid in for the save.

But Heights would tie the game up and force a double overtime. After two grueling overtime periods, the Falcons would come away with the win 3-2.

The Dodge City Red Demon boys soccer team improved to 8-0 on the season with a 6 to 0 defeat of the Great Bend Panthers.

Dodge City traveled to Great Bend for the Western Athletic Conference contest.

The Red Demons brought a perfect 3-0 WAC record into Cavanaugh Soccer Complex. The Red Demons also had not conceded a goal since the second match of the season. The hosts, Great Bend, came into the match on a four-game winless streak. They allowed 16 goals already this season. The Panthers started the game with the ball and maintained possession for much of the first half. Great Bend only managed to get into the attacking third of the field a few times.

”I think we did well in the first half possessing the ball,” said Great Bend’s head coach Jesus Loera. “We just did not do a good enough job to get into an attacking position.”

With the ball staying in the mid-field, Dodge City waited for the right opportunity. With 25 minutes to go in the first half, the Red Demons found the net. Jose Holguin Mejia found the ball on his foot after a teammate intercepted a pass. Mejia weaved his way into the box and fired a shot past Great Bend goalie Edwin Chavez.

Two minutes later, Aron Martinez found the back of the net to give Dodge City a 2 to 0 lead. Dodge City scored again with just over ten minutes to go in the first half. Angel Lopez Ortiz scored after evading a Great Bend defender. He then fired a shot around Chavez.

The Red Demons led 3 to 0 at halftime. It took 12 minutes for Dodge City to score in the second half. David Garcia scored the first goal of the half. Seven minutes later, Irwin Macias added another goal from the far side of the box. Macias made the lead 5 to 0.

Dodge City’s Ernesto Monge scored the final goal of the night. The goal came with less than nine minutes to go in the match. The Red Demons scored on a free-kick from inside the box after Great Bend’s Edwin Chavez fouled by illegally touching the ball. Angel Lopez Ortiz kicked the ball into the mass of players near the goal. Monge found the ball on his foot and fired it home to increase the lead to 6 to 0.

Six different Dodge City players scored a goal in the game.

“Dodge City does not have the forward striker this year like in the past,” said Great Bend coach Jesus Loera. “This team relies more on playing as a complete team instead of keying on one guy.”

”We don’t have a guy that stands out like an Alan Lopez that we had last year,” said Dodge City head coach Saul Hernandez. “We have so many guys who can score.”

”I told the guys we have to start preparing for the post-season now. We have to take the momentum from now halfway through the season to the end of the season. If we lose one of these games, we won’t have the momentum that has been so important in our past State runs.”

Dodge City improves their record to 8 and 0 overall and 4 and 0 in the WAC. Their last loss came in 2019. The Red Demons also have scored 32 goals while only allowing two all season long. Great Bend’s record stands at 3-4-1 overall and 1-2-1 in the Western Athletic Conference.