Coaches aren’t proponents of losing, in any capacity.
That said, Saturday’s 5-1 setback at Pratt “was probably needed,” Allen Community College men’s soccer coach Doug Desmarteau said.
“When you tell guys they’re doing things wrong, but you’re winning, it’s hard to get your message across,” Desmarteau elaborated. “When you get thumped like we did, it allowed us to refocus.”
Refocused, indeed.
Allen returned to the pitch Wednesday with renewed vigor, attacking Hesston relentlessly from the opening kick.
The Red Devils took control early, scoring three goals in the first half and cruising from there in a 3-0 victory.
The win keeps Allen’s hopes for a Jayhawk Conference title alive at 6-1 (7-2 overall) as they prepare to host Southeast Community College at about 4 p.m. Saturday.
Allen is tied at the top of the Division II standings with the aforementioned Pratt squad, with goal differential the tiebreaker.
“Getting three (goals) helps us,” Desmarteau said. “We’ll see if we finish first.”
Regardless, the Red Devils are assured of hosting a first-round postseason game, Desmarteau said.
Wednesday’s key was in finishing when scoring opportunities arose.
After a pair of early saves by Hesston’s goalkeeper, Allen’s Tiago Troyano found teammate Payge Sinclair near the back post, where he easily slipped it into the net for a 1-0 lead, 6 minutes into the match.
Troyano did the same thing in the 26th minute, when he fired the ball in from the right corner to Ben Mnquathu for another back post tap-in to make it 2-0.
Jordan Mase, Allen’s leading scorer, got into the fun in the 42nd minute, taking a feed from David Almeida and poking it past the Hesston goalkeeper from up close to make it 3-0.
“We’ve been working a lot on finishing, and playing balls to the back post,” Desmarteau said. “Their goalkeeper is really good. He made some good saves, but when you make that extra pass to the back post, the keeper can’t be there.”
Moreso, attacking and scoring early kept Hesston from mounting much of a comeback attempt.
“All year, we’ve had tons of chances and not been able to capitalize,” Desmarteau said. “We just finished our chances today.”
