Boys soccer faced the Olathe South Falcons for the second time this season Sept. 13. Just two weeks before, the Cougars topped Olathe South in the semifinals of the Olathe East Invitational Tournament with an overtime score of 3–2. But this game, in yet another overtime thriller, the Cougars lost with a score of 2–1.

The Cougars scored the first goal when senior Bill Kolega put away a one-on-one opportunity with the Falcon goalkeeper. Despite numerous first half chances, Northwest went into halftime with a score of 1–0.
Olathe South came out in the second half with a vengeance, controlling the game for the first 20 minutes of the second half. Finally, with only a quarter of the game left, the Falcons scored the equalizer by knocking in a cross in front of the NW goal. At the end of regulation the score was 1–1.

Mirroring the previous match-up, the Cougars came out fired up in overtime and dominated the pace of play for the first 10-minute overtime period. Seniors David Fancher and Logan Knisley both had good looks on goal but were unable to convert.

In the second overtime, with a minute and a half to play, an Olathe South forward got behind the NW defense and beat senior goalkeeper Eric Zoellner, but fellow senior Aaron Terrill saved the initial shot.

“The Olathe South player tried to put it on goal, but I had dropped back in case it got past . I was able to get a foot on it and knock it out,” Terrill said.

The deflection, however, rebounded straight back to the Falcon forward who scored on the second shot to end the game. It was the Cougars’ first loss of the season.

“No one likes to lose, but in ways in was helpful,” Terrill said. “It was a wake up call and really showed us that we need to refocus and work each day to get better.”