Worthington boys soccer rebounds with 5-3 win over New Ulm

Sep. 8—WORTHINGTON — The New Ulm Eagles started Thursday night's boys soccer matchup against Worthington fast.

But the Trojans showed their strength and came away with a reaffirming 5-3 victory.

"We're finding out that if we play together, we look really good out there. It's when we have those moments when we're not focused or when we make mistakes — that we let teams get back into it," said Worthington boys soccer coach Juan Flores. "Don't get me wrong, New Ulm is a good team. They're a very good team and they're a tough team. They came here to play, and all credit to them — it was a battle and it was a fun game to watch. And it was good that we came up with a win."

In their first road game on the season, the Trojans struggled mightily and were defeated 3-1 by conference rivals Marshall.

"It's really good for the team to be able to come back from that," said captain Hugo Garcia. "We just had a bad game that day. So it means a lot to the team to be able to prove ourselves again."

And against a starting Eagles' high and swarming press, the Trojans committed a first minute turnover and a New Ulm shot on goal quickly followed.

The play was saved by Trojans' goalkeeper Kaleb Knothe — but New Ulm was here to play ball.

In total the first three shots towards goal belonged to the Eagles.

The first ball to make it into the net belonged to the Trojans. In the opening ten minutes the Worthington Trojans converted a freekick from Mathias Noble — in their half of the midfield — into a penalty kick for Jonathan Banegas from a New Ulm handball inside the penalty box.

Banegas added a second goal not long later. Banegas was in a great position inside the New Ulm third when a turnover happened. Banegas won a one-one against Eagles' goalkeeper Ethan Goff to grow the Trojans advantage to 2-0.

New Ulm found chances in a corner kick and then later on through open play. But Knothe and the Trojans back line contested and cleaned them up from becoming goals.

The opening goal from the Eagles came midway through the first half. A cross to the left post slipped past a diving Knothe and landed at the feet of senior Brennan Shaver who tapped it in.

Worthington and New Ulm traded chances. Worthington drew a corner and New Ulm gained a shot on net with fast pace of play after Worthington was flagged for offsides.

In the final ten minutes Luis Vela was shown a yellow card for a tactical foul in the midfield to stop a dangerously developing Eagles' offensive.

But the final team to capitalize in the first half was the Trojans. Carlos Castillo made a deep run from a long Trojans' clearance and crossed the ball to Danny Banegas. Danny put the Trojans back up by two goals with under four minutes to go in the half.

"When the game goes through our midfield — when we pass the ball, when we communicate — I think this team can be very good," said Flores on what makes the Trojans go. "But you know, we got to do it for 80 minutes. We can't just do it in parts of the game, because then we have games like these. When we were play how we (should) play — passing the ball, communicating and playing as a team — I think it shows on the score, it is when we score most of our goals."

Good things came in spurts for the Trojans. When the midfield was humming the Trojans worked shot after shot on net through combination play.

But when things were off, it cut deep with New Ulm converting on chances stemming from Trojans' errors.

Only the first of New Ulm's goals came from open play. The two second half goals — including one which tied the game up 3-3 — came from set pieces.

Unlike the first half, the Trojans started off the half as the team with higher energy. And that energy and smart play lead to WHS getting chances for more goals.

But it was New Ulm who capitalized on a chance first — making the most of a penalty kick after a Trojan defender caught more leg than ball inside of his penalty box. Maverick Johnson scored the goal on the penalty kick.

Later in the game, after Jonathan Banegas was yellow carded for reckless play, New Ulm won a corner kick from the left hand side. A deep cross connected with a leaping Eagles' forehead to tie the game up 3-3.

"In the back we need to clean up a few things. I mean, we can't give up three goals every game," said Flores. "Otherwise, we're probably not going to win very many (matches) — especially the close ones."

The game stayed tied for a few minutes — but WHS sophomore Andy Guzman played hero, taking advantage of an open New Ulm net after Goff missed his dive on the ball crossing in. Knothe made two big saves in the minutes after the go-ahead score. Knothe's first save was a two handed punch on a fast shot going towards the upper right corner.

On a New Ulm free kick not far outside of the Trojans penalty area, an alert Knothe made a fast save as the Eagles attempted to take fast advantage of an unbuilt Trojans' wall.

On the subsequent counter attack, the Trojans found a great through ball from an unlikely player operating in the midfield.

"Kaleb is a fast learner; he's been doing really well. And I just try to do my best as a defender to not have any shots get to him," said Hugo on the Trojans' first year goalkeeper. "If a shot does get by, I trust in him that he can do something about it. He is a quick learner and he's done really well for us."

Playing close to the Trojans' bench was center back Hugo Garcia. Garcia made a strong through ball to hit the running Trojan attack in stride and saw the play he began finish with a second Danny Banegas goal for a 5-3 lead.

"Hugo and Maqui (Sandoval) are very good at reading the game. So if they see an opening, they'll take it ... (New Ulm) were playing their two attackers wide. I think Hugo thought he had that room and he took it," said Flores about his senior captain. "He saw that room, he saw that he had space and he took it — and he did well to recover back."

To end the game growing frustration from the Worthington team on how fouls were called boiled over. A third yellow card towards the Trojans was shown to coach Flores after he grew animated after a New Ulm tackle — which sent one of his players sideways into the air — was not given a yellow card for reckless play.

"I always tell them (his players), 'I'll take care of the refs, you guys take care of playing. Don't worry about the refs, worry about your team and I'll take care of the ref.'" said Flores. "That last foul, I thought it was a reckless foul. Our guys had three yellow cards for (reckless fouls) that I didn't were reckless fouls, so I wanted it to be called on both sides."

Following Flores' yellow card came a fourth yellow directed towards senior midfielder Jose Luis Chavez.

The Trojans have another home game this week on Saturday. Coming to town for a 7 p.m. 'Meet the Trojans' matchup is I-90 rival Austin. Over the years Worthington and Austin have played some memorable games — including a 2-0 Trojans' win last season.

"Austin's a very good team and they're gonna come here to play. They're gonna give us their best shot and we just got to come out and play 80 minutes," said Flores. "I think that's the key to come out and play 80 minutes and the result will show itself — but it's going to be a battle."

"It's a good rivalry to have; the games are always intense and always drawn out," said Garcia. "I am waiting to see what they bring this year."

New Ulm 1 2 — 3

Worthington 3 2 — 5

Girls Soccer

New Ulm 2, Worthington 0

NEW ULM — A goal eluded the Trojans in a conference matchup against New Ulm but there was still plenty to be excited about.

After allowing two goals in the first half — one of which coming around the 20th minute and the second coming in the final seconds of the half — Worthington rebounded and kept a clean sheet in the second part of the game.

Trojans defenders supported each other well in the diamond defense, said coach Anne Greenway.

Greenway also added that she was encouraged by strong play which lasted the whole game.

The Trojans travel to play Fairmont next Tuesday. The WHS girls soccer team returns to Trojan Field next Thursday against St. James/Madelia/Windom Area for their annual 'Meet the Trojans' game.