BonnerSprings.com

The Bonner Springs boys soccer team traveled to Lansing on Monday night and lost 3-2 in overtime. The loss dropped the Braves' record to 4-3-1 on the season and gave them their first setback in Kaw Valley League play.

The Braves hit the road again at 6 tonight when they play at Tonganoxie.

BSHS coach Mike Moulin said that although he is not too happy with his squad's performance of late, he is taking a wait-and-see approach.

"I don't look at records that much. I'd rather start bad and end the season great by peaking at the right time," Moulin said. "We are always trying to improve throughout the year."

Moulin wasn't particularly ecstatic about his squad's 3-2 victory over Bishop Ward on Sept. 18, either. On a night where players were having the public announcer ask their dates to homecoming, the Braves had to survive a late push by Ward to stave off the upset.

BSHS started out sluggish, stood around a lot and could not get out of that funk all night. They controlled the ball 80 percent of the night, but only managed to score three goals on several opportunities. Moulin was happy to get the win, but was not very happy with the effort he got from his team.

"We've had some off-the-field issues this week that we had to deal with and overcome. Our effort in practice was less than expected. I'm hoping we buckle down and start coming ready to play," Moulin said. "A little bit of discipline was issued and I hope that will straighten everyone out."

The Braves took a 1-0 lead midway through the first half on a rather strange goal from Shawn Jones. He received a pass from Alex Soto directly in front of the goal and attempted to kick the ball, but missed. It ended up working as an effective fake. He stayed with the play, found the ball and slammed it past the Ward goalkeeper Jose Vega.

Just as it began to look like the game would go into halftime with the Braves leading 1-0, the Cyclones struck. On a corner kick, defenseman Chance Crawford intentionally deflected a goal with his hand to avoid the automatic goal. He earned a yellow card for the move and gave Ward a shot at a penalty kick, which senior Robert Grindstaff capitalized on, knotting the score at 1-1.

After the second half started the Braves wasted little time in lighting up the scoreboard. Just three minutes into the half Conner Harrington found Soto, who raced by all defenders and pushed the ball past Vega to stake a 2-1 lead. Less than a minute later senior Garrett Parker lofted a rainbow goal that tucked in the net just over a leaping Vega and just under the crossbar.

Bonner finally had a two-goal lead and relaxed enough that 30 seconds later Ward forward Daniel Sandoval snuck past the entire Braves defense and slammed a goal home past Ethan Isaacs to get within 3-2.

The Braves' defense picked up its intensity in the final 30 minutes until the nine-minute mark when Ward forward Jose Torres stole the ball and had a shot on the wide open net because Isaacs was caught out of position. Torres whiffed, and unlike Jones, who recovered and kicked in a goal earlier for the Braves, the second attempt sailed away from the goal.