Penalty Kicks to decide a key conference match is one of the most adrenaline-inducing events that can happen in any sport. Especially when the Fort Osage boys soccer team was in this same position last year and fell short. But not this year.
The 3-1 Indians went on the road on Mon, Sep. 15, to visit the 1-3 Grain Valley Eagles for a key conference game. The Indians found themselves up 2-0 at halftime. The Eagles were down a man after a red card. The Indians added another goal just after the start of the second half from the feet of junior Adrian Galeas. Grain Valley answered back quickly, but junior Nick Cornejo scored a header for the Indians to restore a three-goal lead. Grain Valley then stormed back, scoring three straight unanswered goals. The game went through both overtimes and eventually to penalty kicks, where the Indians won 5-4. Head Coach Ra Del Hinckley believes a tough match like this will set up the team for success later in the season.
“They are the defending champions until someone gets the title this year. So they’re still the number one team,” Hinckley said. “If we can go out and beat them, then we should be able to play with and compete with everybody. Now it’s just a matter of showing up and bringing the same intensity as this game.”
Penalty kicks sound easy. It’s just one versus one with the goalkeeper, but many external factors create extra pressure for the kickers. Sophomore captain Finn Snowden believes the crowd adds the most pressure.
“The crowd just feels like they’re all hovering over your back,” Snowden said. “And all of the pressure is on you for your team to win the game.”
Fort Osage is no stranger to playing overtime and penalty kick games against Grain Valley. Last year, when the Indians hosted Grain Valley, both teams found themselves in a similar crucial situation that ultimately would be one of the deciding games to crown conference champions. In the PK shootout last year. At the time, juniors Austin Sinclair and Blake Overbeck both missed their shots that would ultimately put Grain Valley over the finish line. Sinclair talks about how his misfortune last year led to success this year.
“I was definitely nervous when I found out that I had to go up there and take my PK because the only thing going through my head was last year and how I missed and how I got trolled so bad,” Sinclair said. “But whenever he called me up, I just took my time, took a deep breath, and I put it in the bottom corner, and as soon as I saw the ball go in, it was like such an amazing feeling.”
Grain Valley would ultimately win the conference last year, thanks in part to a big part of beating Fort Osage in the PK shootout, as well as a double-overtime victory later in the season. Sinclair expresses the importance of the win for the team, but also for Coach Hinckley.
“Winning that game means a lot because both times we played them last year, we lost, and so beating them is definitely a great feeling,” Sinclair said. “Also winning it for Coach (Hinckley) is amazing because pre-game he said that he hadn’t beaten Grain Valley since he was the head coach.”
The PK shootout win is a step in the right direction for the hopes of Fort Osage taking the conference crown this year. The now 4-1 Indians next match is a home game against 6-0 conference foes, the Truman Patriots, for Hispanic Heritage Night on Wed, Sep. 17. The live stream of the match will be available at MSHAA.TV
