Going into their first game of the season, Manhattan Varsity boys soccer won 2-0 at home against Lawrence High. 

It was a significant win as Lawrence is one of the more competitive teams in the Centennial League. Last season MHS beat them 1-0; the year before last they tied.

“We knew they’re always pretty solid … [going into the match],” senior Hunter French said. “We wanted to start the season off strong and come out with a win.”

Much of the team is new this year, with only four returning seniors, so the win was a positive sign for the young team and players. The entirely new back line kept a clean sheet, and junior goalkeeper Caleb DeLoach had seven saves throughout the game.

 “To see them come together and do a good job [as well as] work with Caleb [DeLoach] is impressive,” head coach Mike Sanchez said.

The match proved to be a back-and-forth throughout the 80 minutes. It started out with Lawrence attacking persistently. DeLoach made four saves in the first twenty minutes of the match and multiple Lawrence shots went off the crossbar. 

That all changed in the 23rd minute, when junior Michael Ohler was subbed in and immediately scored to take the lead. One minute later, French took the ball off of Lawrence, cut down the right side and scored to make it a 2-0 lead. 

Throughout the second half, both Lawrence and Manhattan had chances. However, Manhattan had most of the control and more chances than Lawrence, with three consecutive corners in the last ten minutes of the game. 

“For the[ir] first game … I thought they did pretty well,” Sanchez said. “It’s game one, we got a lot to continue to grow on.”

As a result of the close match, the game was more physical than is typical. Manhattan had French as well as  juniors Danny Tamura and Connor Turner yellow carded. Lawrence also had their fair share of cards, including a man sent off with a straight red in the 53rd minute for stopping a goal scoring opportunity by Ohler. The set piece outside the box that resulted, taken by senior Carter Wiens, went off the crossbar.

 “A little physicality is always welcome,” Ohler said. “We like… to come out there and establish ourselves as the dominant team. But … there w[ere] some inadequate calls made … I think … it got a little bit more physical than it needed to.”

The team won with a bigger margin than 2018’s team. However, there were mistakes made and there is still room to improve throughout the season.

“That was not our full potential,” French said. “I feel, if we … keep working hard every practice, keep grinding every day we can be just as good if not better [than in 2018].”

The boys go into the Wichita Titan tournament next week with away games on Monday, Thursday and Saturday. They’re aiming to improve on last year’s tournament, when they placed fifth.

“I think we’re really prepared coming off of this win,” Ohler said. “But I don’t think it’s going to our heads … we’re going to… mak[e] sure that we’re not … overly cocky going into the Titan tournament.”