Sacred Heart Soccer Earns First Win of 2020 Season
Sacred Heart traveled to Father Tolton High School on Wednesday night and earned their first victory of the season.
Playing into a strong breeze, the Gremlins struggled to generate any offense in the first half. Only the stellar play of the Gremlin defense, led by seniors John Ulbrich and Kobey Hill, kept the game at a 0-0 tie.
Playing without injured senior Jaysen Gerke, freshmen Traven Wheeler and Reuben Smith anchored the wings of the Gremlin defense.
The second half began with Lucas Martin sliding back as a central defender and Ulbrich moving to a defensive midfielder. This allowed Junior Ian Viscarra to press more offensively and generate a more organized Gremlin attack.
With ten minutes left in the game, Viscarra dribbled past three Tolton defenders in the box and hit a shot into the right side netting for his 4th goal of the season.
Five minutes late, sophomore Eric Mercado stole a ball off a Tolton defender and played a perfect cross to Viscarra. Viscarra then played a through ball behind the Tolton defense to Freshman George Bain IV.
Bain IV continued to show incredible finishing prowess and tucked it away for his third goal of the season.
Father Tolton made a late surge and scored with one minute remaining, but the Gremlins were able to dribble out the clock for the first win of the year. Senior Dallin Chappell recorded six saves and continues his strong play in goal.
SH gets a chance to heal several injuries and returns to action next Thursday against district rivals, the St. Paul Saints in Concordia.