Boys’ Soccer Kicks Off Season At Lebanon Tournament
The Eagles boys’ soccer team had a 1-1 record on Saturday at the Lebanon tournament, losing to West Plains 0-3 and beating Lebanon 3-1.
West Plains
Sullivan struggled against West Plains, suffering a 0-3 defeat. Immekus said about the loss, “We started a little sluggish vs. West Plains, surrendering 2 goals in the first 12 minutes of the game, which isn’t ideal. We made a few lineup adjustments and turned things around tremendously the rest of the day.”
Wyatt Kraus had a team-high of 6 shots in the matchup. Dock Thomure had 2 shots, while Luke Herron and Kaden Smith had 1 each.
Zaiden Marler made his first start as goalkeeper, recording 12 saves on 15 shots.
Lebanon
In the second match, Sullivan’s 3-1 victory against Lebanon remained scoreless at halftime. The next period saw much more action with the Eagles scoring first, then the Yellowjackets tying it up and Sullivan making two goals at the end to secure the win.
Carsen Dudley scored the first goal against Lebanon, Smith made the second and Kraus kicked in the last. Each of them contributed two points, a shot and a goal.
Dudley played both on the wing and as a forward. Head coach Brian Immekus said that “He consistently created opportunities for his teammates with great passes and was strong on the ball throughout the day.”
Thomure provided 3 assists and 3 points. He was “aggressive and extremely creative” on Saturday.
Alex Toews also made his goalkeeping debut, recording 6 saves on 7 shots.
Overall, Immekus is seeing the high offseason efforts of rebuilding the team paying off, explaining, “We saw lots of improvements in many areas over last season, especially in goal, where both keepers were given a whole game and played extremely well, so we’re excited about that.”
The Eagles boys’ soccer team will continue their journey in Washington on Tuesday, Aug. 29, at 6:45 p.m. They will then travel to North County on Sep. 7 and Fox on Sep. 11. Their first home game will not be until Sep. 12 against Fatima at 5 p.m.