Soccer continues to prove ability

Jonah Evarts, Sports Editor

The Manhattan High boys soccer team took a loss 2-0 against Washburn Rural two weeks ago. They marched into the next week to win two straight games 5-0 and 2-0, defeating Wichita South and Emporia. Keeping their composure after a loss was one of the few things they had left to prove they could do, because they hadn’t lost before that.

“It feels great getting some wins during the week,” junior Max Landsdowne said. “Especially because Washburn got two losses this week, which is really good for our regional seeding.”

The team now stands at 8-1-1, still the best start in school history, but even one loss is more than they wanted.

“The good seeding takes off a little pressure, but it also adds pressure for us to win out the rest of season,” Landsdowne said.

This seems to be the common goal that they’re working toward, and it’s a high bar to reach with plenty left to go.  

“Looking forward, we want to win out the rest of the season,” senior Josh Bussmann said. “We’re just taking it game by game, we want to be prepared for all of our opponents.”

They still have hard games left in the regular season that can prevent them from winning out, but aren’t taking any of them for granted.

“We want to keep pushing ourselves now because we still have some tough games left,” Landsdowne said. “I think we need to go into the games expecting them to be just as tough as any game we’ve played so far, because if we get too complacent, they’re good enough teams to punish us.”

A team that is well-meshed looks to keep dominating, and not let one loss dictate the narration for the rest of a season that is thriving with opportunity. They have their sights set on something big: to be champions.

“Our coaches and the team are all in it to win state,” Landsdowne said. “This is our best chance to do it.”

With broken records and a strong recovery from their first bump in the road, the future is looking good to the boys.

“The ultimate goal is to win out,” Bussman said, “And have a shot at the state championship.”