Friday night the boys’ soccer team defeated SM North 6-0 on senior night, which advanced their record to 7-4 on the season. Head coach Todd Boren hopes this blow-out win will help give his team some momentum heading into the rest of their season.
“With any game like this where we put goals up and we move the ball successfully,” Boren said, “We try to reinforce doing the right things, going into the next opponent.”
Senior co-captain Seth Bowman, who scored two of Northwest’s six goals, says the mentality of his team coming into the game centered on redemption.
“We needed to come back from our 0-5 loss against Olathe Northwest,” Bowman said. “And it senior night, so really pumped coming into it, and I was just hoping all of our team had the 100% mentality to come out and play our game.”
The team’s success on senior night showed Boren how far his team has come since their first game.
“Our team chemistry has gotten better as the guys are getting to know each other a little better,” Boren said. “At times we play better together than what we did at the beginning of the year, but it comes down to consistency. Whether or not we consistently play well, like we did tonight.”
Bowman praises his teammates on the attacking side for their top-notch play so far this season, as well as senior co-captain and goalkeeper Von Schnorf, who made a few key saves in the second half to secure the shutout.
“Our attacking side has scored so many goals,” Bowman said. “And our keeper, Von, has been doing a great job keeping goals out. Tonight’s our second shutout of the year. I think we could work on our defending a little bit, but other than that we’re doing a great job.”
As the team heads into the final half of their season, Boren will focus his coaching efforts into getting his team to play well more consistently.
“Tonight is a demonstration of what we’re capable of,” Boren said. “In terms of moving the ball, in terms of getting behind the defense. We had the capability to put goals up, I think the biggest issue that we’re trying to figure out right now is consistency and how we can play consistently well to get to the point where we can beat good teams.”
The team’s next game is Tuesday at 6 p.m. against SM South at Shawnee Mission North District Stadium stadium.