​Eagles create multiple chances, but can’t finish them in 4-0 loss to Jaguars

by Michael Smith


The Grain Valley boys soccer team was missing a key part of its offense.

Senior striker Ethan Galvan is out for the season with a broken clavicle, so head coach Brett Lewis has turned to sophomore defender Cohen Hackworth to take over that spot.

The Eagles created some chances in their non-conference matchup with Blue Springs South Monday on the road, but they were unable to put the ball into the back of the net in a 4-0 loss.

Grain Valley controlled possession for the first 25 minutes of the game and led South in shots early on. Hackworth had a pair of open shots early in the first half but he hit them right at goalkeeper Gavin Wiggins, who easily made both saves.

Hackworth also had a nice cross that found an open teammate in junior Aiden Kalthoff, but he too, hit one right at Wiggins.

“I told my team that this was a game of woulda, coulda, shoulas,” Lewis said. “We had two golden opportunities in the first half. We had two right at the keeper. If we finish one of those, it’s a different game. We just need to be more polished in the final third.

“We can’t make those mistakes. We have to be more composed in front of the goal.”

South started to take control late in the first half. Junior forward Kaden Edwards knocked in a header past Grain Valley goalkeeper Dayton Garrison off a corner kick from Nolan Voigt.

“We need to be a little sharper on corners,” Lewis said. “It’s a mentality thing for us. We sent out three guys on a short corner when we really should have sent out one or two guys. We left guys unmarked.”

That score held until halftime and the Jaguars never looked back.

South (7-6) did a much better job at getting the ball out wide and letter their wings push the ball up field and facilitate in the second half. That resulted in the Jaguars dominating possession the rest of the way. They outshot Grain Valley 12-5 in the second half (9-3 on goal).

South sophomore Rudy Ramirez got in on the scoring action. After a shot from Ati Neff was stopped by Garrison, Ramirez put in a rebound to make it 2-0 in the 49th minute.

In the 53rd minute, Edwards fired a shot from about 40 yards away from the Eagles goal. The ball deflected off defender Isaiah Johnson and he was unable to stop the ball from rolling over the goal line as Grain Valley was charged with a own goal, making it 3-0.

Edwards capped the scoring in the 69th minute when he put in a rebound after Garrison stopped his initial shot.

​“South is more athletic than we are,” Lewis said. “As the game went on their athleticism started to wear on us.”

Grain Valley head boys soccer coach Brett Lewis speaks with his team following a 4-0 loss to Blue Springs South. Photo credit: Michael Smith