Worthington Trojans boys soccer wins 8-1 over St. Peter

Aug. 31—WORTHINGTON — The Worthington Trojans overcame a slow start to win 8-1 over St. Peter on a Tuesday night boys soccer matchup.

St. Peter started the match with high intensity. Their press in the Trojan's midfield was aggressive and forced Worthington into committing turnovers.

The Worthington back line kept shots limited and from deep areas for goalkeeper Kaleb Knothe. For the first 15 minutes, St. Peter outclassed Worthington, who was recently ranked fifth in Minnesota's Class AA.

"They were very intense right off the gate. And credit to them, they pressured us when we had the ball. And our guys didn't know what to do and they would turn the ball over," said WHS head coach Juan Flores. "We have to be comfortable with the ball at our feet when there's somebody defending us. There's other teams that we will play that are gonna play the same way and even be more intense when it comes to pressuring us."

Not long after 15 minutes of play, Worthington found its first goal of the night. Scoring was Jose Luis Chavez, a sparkplug in the midfield, on a cross in from Isaac Perez Perez.

Two minutes later, Worthington found another golden scoring chance as Jonathan Banegas won a free kick 20 yards out. St. Peter was slow in making its defending wall and Banegas took an early opportunity to put his shot on net.

But erasing any mistake was St. Peter junior goalie Eli Stoll, who made a confident leap and saved the play.

After a St. Peter clear, Worthington regained possession and Banegas was once again in a dangerous spot. This time he was six yards out, and his shot rocketed into the net for a 2-0 WHS advantage.

Worthington settled into a rhythm, they began to grow increasingly more comfortable in the midfield and saw many offensive possessions end in shots on net or with a Worthington corner kick given.

Taking the majority of Worthington's corners is Banegas, and he does so in a multitude of ways. Banegas often takes his first corner short.

"We have the two big guys (Hugo Garcia and Maqui Sandoval) going forward on corners, even when we're playing it short, Jonathan is smart and when he sees we can play the ball quickly and have a shorter corner — he takes that advantage," Flores said. "It really catches teams off guard and sometimes I don't even expect it. It's just one of those things that's smart play and (high) soccer IQ."

On Tuesday, a Worthington short corner came close to being a goal, twice. Off the delayed cross in, Worthington's shot hit the right post. As the ball bounced back into play, it hit the St. Peter keeper Stoll and began to roll back towards the net.

But once again, Stoll erased the error by collecting the ball before it could cross the goal line.

In the final few minutes of the first half, Banegas had another shot on goal saved by the St. Peter keeper. Banegas put his shot into the upper right corner but was denied a goal by a leaping block.

To start the second half, WHS made many substitutions to its lineup. In goal, Knothe was replaced by WHS senior Jose Sandoval Soto.

"It's a matter of just finding those players that can be versatile and just being able to play more than one position," Flores said. "That's a benefit, not all teams have that. So we're really lucky to have players that are capable of playing in multiple spots in the field."

To start the half, Worthington played fast and with an intensity lacking at the beginning of the game. And that paid off, as the Trojans doubled its lead in the opening five minutes. Scoring first was Andy Guzman from inside of the six yard box.

Guzman's goal was followed shortly by the first varsity goal of Carlos Castillo.

WHS defended well, winning the ball back and moving up the field through improved combination play.

Their fifth goal of the match was added on a corner kick. Banegas played the ball short, after playing the previous few long. A cross in was made at the Bluejays logo and center back Hugo Garcia redirected it into the goal.

Chavez added a second goal to his name on the day. Chavez was assisted on the play by a surging Danny Banegas.

Not long after Danny found himself in a goal scoring opportunity himself, and put Worthington up 7-0 on an assist from Castillo.

"He has stepped up, I really liked the work he does," Flores said. "We just keep working with him and he keeps working, he is putting in the time and getting better. ... It's just a matter of trusting your players and giving them the confidence to go out there and perform to the best of their ability."

Danny scored again — from way outside of the box. His shot hit the top crossbar and ricocheted down for a goal.

With six minutes to go, St. Peter broke through Worthington's clean sheet. Scoring for the Saints was captain Luke Gilbertson.

The Trojans play their first road game this Thursday evening in Marshall against the Tigers.

Worthington 2 6 — 8

St. Peter 0 1 — 1