Another shutout victory and they move on.

The Manhattan High boys soccer team came into Bishop Stadium for their first playoff game of the year and successfully defeated opponents Derby High by a score of 4-0 to move to the Regional Finals.

The Indians came into the game with an 11 game win streak and a victory against rivals Junction City by a score of 11-1. Senior Austin French, the team’s leading scorer, came into the matchup with a streak of three straight “hat tricks”. Derby, on the other hand, came into the game with only four victories all year.  

The game kicked off with back and forth action and no clear chances for either team. Derby defended all attacks coming from the Manhattan front line and managed to keep the game scoreless at half.

“It was a tale of two halves. The first half our energy was good but we were playing too individualistic, and we were playing for ourselves rather than as a team,” Assistant Coach Mike Lopez said.

Manhattan came out in the second half and in less than five minutes scored three goals to give them the decisive lead. Three goals out of the four in the victory were scored by senior Austin French who managed to continue his streak of hat trick games.

“I’ve been at the right place at the right time. Over the offseason I worked on finishing all the opportunities that I get,” French said.

He has netted 27 goals for the year.    

“We stepped up the intensity in the second half. In the locker room [at halftime] we definitely realized that the first half was subpar for us. Our effort was not as good as it should have been so we came out with a little bit of fire in the second half. We got the momentum going and we put three in,” senior forward Kirkland Lambert said.

He finished the game with two assists and a goal.

As for the defensive side of the ball, Manhattan achieved yet another shutout to make it to 11 for the season.

“We can attribute that to just hard work back there. As defenders, it is our job not to let them score and we’re doing a great job so far. We have to keep that going,” senior defender Jake Bussman said.

In the past two seasons MHS has gotten at least to the round of Sub-State each time and this win put them closer to their goal. Still they will have to go through Regional Final to get to Sub-State or State.

“You have to take it one game at a time. Any time you start to look too far forward, mistakes happen. It showed today with the 0-0 at halftime,” Lopez said.

The Varsity squad is currently made up of 14 seniors, many of them who still remember their trips to Sub-State last year and State the year before that.

“We have to play our hardest and hopefully we’ll make a good run and get a ring,” French said.

The Indians will play against Hutchinson High in the Regional Finals this Thursday at Bishop Stadium.