Boys soccer brought Topeka West to mercy rules at home last night and won their match against Highland Park 9-1 on Thursday, putting them at 8-1-5 with one match left in the regular season. 

Manhattan has brought Topeka to mercy rules in the last two seasons and has beaten them in every game since 2013.

“I expected them to be a little tougher than they seem to be,” junior Grant Snowden said. “But [we] take the same mentality into every game.”

MHS came out strong from the beginning, scoring six goals in the first half and keeping West on the defense. Snowden had the opener, and proceeded to score four more goals in the first half along with seniors Connor Turner and Gabe Effiong. 

“I think we had a lot of good movement tonight,” Snowden said. “And I think it really showed on the scoreboard. Everybody was doing their part, making the right passes.”

They finished the Chargers with 10 minutes left. Snowden had two more goals, totaling six for him in the match, the most a single player has scored in a match for MHS boys soccer in three years. Senior Johannes Glymour scored and Ohler had the game-ending shot. 

“I think [winning 10-0 is] a great confidence booster of being one of the last two games of the regular season,” Snowden said. 

The boys came back from a 2-5 loss to Derby last Monday to beat Highland Park.

After struggling to keep up the tempo all year, MHS came out slow against Highland. It was 1-0 at the half with a goal from senior Cole Schmitt.

Ten minutes into the second, the boys picked up the pace with a goal from Effiong. After that came a flood, within 20 minutes the score was 9-0. They let in a late goal to finish the game 9-1.

Manhattan’s postseason group is Junction City, Washburn Rural and Topeka High.

“I think we still have some strides to make,” head coach Mike Sanchez said. “We [have] one more game to get ready and build some confidence going in the postseason.”