WORTHINGTON -- Apparently, Worthington's boys' soccer team had some trouble finding the back of the net at practice during the week in preparation for the opening game against Central Christian Friday.
"We knew coming in that we had some trouble finishing up, but we knew we had the players capable of doing that," WHS coach Smitty Ektnitphong said. "For the past week, we didn't practice well finishing."
Practice apparently doesn't make perfect, as the Trojans found the back of the net Friday, knocking off Central Christian 4-1 in the season opener.
"In the beginning, we abondoned the fundamentals," Ektnitphong said. "It didn't look pretty, but we got the job done."
Nearly 13 minutes into the game, Victor Meza opened up the scoring on a free kick right outside the box with a floater over CC goalie Zach Zwart's fingertips.
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Less than eight minutes later, CC tied up the game. Nick Daugherty threw the ball in, in front of the Trojan net and Lucas Van Eps sent the ball in off a Trojan defender to tie the game up.
The Blue Jays woulD not get any closer.
Less than seven minutes later, Mu Lar Taw sent a corner kick in front of the net and, after a scrum, Josh Kleve got a hold of the ball turned and found the back of the net to give the Trojans a 2-1 lead.
"After the first goal, I think everything started to click very well," Kleve said. "We gained more confidence and into the second half we pushed the ball more.
"We need to work on our offsides and we're looking for another win."
Andrew Johnson made it 3-1 Trojans, firing a loose ball into the back of the net with 6:23 remaining in the first half. Johnson would add an assist to his stat sheet when he found Kleve for the final goal with seven minutes remaining in the second half to cap the scoring. Not a bad day's work for someone making their varsity debut.
"I just had fun playing with the varsity team," Johnson said. "We need to work on our offsides and keep our shots lower.
"It's good to get that first win, but we want to get more."
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The Trojans outshot the Blue Jays 23-8 in the game and looked like a cohesive unit, even though the team returned just three seniors from last year.
"At least 90 percent of the time this team is on the field, it's their first time playing together," Ektnitphong said. "We still have a lot of things to clean up in order to take the next step.
"This helped the players' confidence to know we can play, we can challenge, we can compete. I like the way we were aggressive and put pressure on the other team. I think that was the key to the game."
The Trojans will take on Glencoe-Silver Lake Monday at home.
CC 1 0 -- 1
WHS 3 1 -- 4
Daily Globe Sports Editor Chris Murphy may be reached at 376-7328.
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