The Seward boys’ soccer team had a tough week last week, falling to York 6-0 April 11 and to Schuyler 10-0 April 13 in the first round of the Central Conference tournament.
Coach Jamie Opfer said the Jays played well at times against York but couldn’t keep up with the Dukes’ quickness and offensive firepower. SHS trailed 3-0 with about 10 minutes to play and tried pulling a defender forward to improve its scoring chances.
“It left us vulnerable on the defensive end of the game, and they scored three goals in the last 10 minutes,” he said.
The Jays had some quality shots on goal, he said, but they didn’t go in. Nolan Hill and Dominic Torres had two each, and Kenix Levy Sigala, Austin Rikke, Josh Ringler and Nolan Stanton took one each.
Gabriel Cobian made 12 saves in goal.
In their second meeting of the season, Schuyler finished the game with 13 minutes to play. Opfer said the Jays were missing players who were at SkillsUSA.
“Schuyler is a skilled team that makes quick penetrating runs with their midfielders and forwards,” Opfer said. “We were unable to match their skill and speed throughout the game.”
He was proud of how Seward battled throughout the game. Cobian played well, despite the 10 Schuyler goals, Opfer said.
Seward has improved its passing and ball control but tends to hold the ball too long sometimes, he said.
“The boys keep working and have maintained a positive attitude,” Opfer said.
Seward (1-8) will host Aurora April 18 for senior night (a 2-0 SHS loss) and then travel to Beatrice Thursday, April 20, for a 7:15 p.m. game.
“We have a stretch of games coming up that should be a lot more competitive than the Schuyler game. Our group is young and inexperienced, but has gotten better each game throughout the season. I’m looking forward to a strong finish from the Jays,” Opfer said.
