The Hays Soccer Club’s U12 Thunder went 3-1 at the Nightmare on 17th Street tournament last weekend in Topeka, KS. This tournament has a Halloween theme and encourages teams to dress in costume. Hays Thunder decided to play the first two games as the Hays Minions coached by Gru (pictured below)The Thunder started round-robin play Saturday against SJSC Cyclones 2011 from Saint Joseph, MO. This was a rematch from Thunder’s first tournament in KC that ended in a 4-2 victory. After an initial close first period, Thunder struck first with a goal from Joey Fisher followed by a second goal from Mason Zimmerman. Expecting a close match Thunder kept the pressure up and picked up another goal from Fisher before the Cyclones answered with a goal of their own to finish the first period. The second period was all Thunder with consecutive goals from Dalton Herrman, Noah DeBay, and Emery Zimmerman. Thunder finished the match with another goal from Herrman before the Cyclones could answer with their own goal to finish the match 7-2. The match saw shots on goal from Austin Liles(2), Dalton Herrman(6), Emery Zimmerman(3), Joey Fisher(7), Jace Herbers(1), Mason Zimmerman(1), Noah DeBey(1), and Preston Dinkel(2). Logan Cunningham finished with 8 saves with Noah DeBey recording a save in the goal area preventing a Cyclones score.
(Pictured front row from left: Emery Zimmerman, Nick Penka, Jace Herbers, Dalton Herrman, Preston Dinkel, and Col Lonsdale. Back row from left: Head Coach Adam Fisher, Joey Fisher, Lakin Desaire, Logan Cunningham, Austin Liles, Noah DeBey, Hudson Sultzer, and Mason Zimmerman)
The second match was another rematch from an earlier KC tournament facing Topeka Soccer Club’s 2011B White Chelsea team. Another close match was expected, and the Thunder pressed early to pick up a goal by Col Lonsdale off a Joey Fisher assist. The match was hard fought with both sides showing aggressive play. Thunder added another goal from Fisher with an assist by Emery Zimmerman to go up 2-0. A hard challenge and tough call resulted in a red card and forced the Thunder to play a man down for the remainder of the game. Just before the end of the first period, Chelsea found the back of the net bringing the score to 2-1. The second period began with another goal from Chelsea to tie the game at 2-2. The boys battled back and made that early second-period Chelsea goal their last with incredible defensive play and clutch saves by keeper Jace Herbers. Midway through the second period Joey Fisher scored Thunder’s 3rd goal of the match to take the lead. The defensive battle continued through the rest of the match securing a Thunder win. The match ended with shots on goal from Austin Liles(3), Col Lonsdale(1), Dalton Herrman(2), Joey Fisher(3), Logan Cunningham(2), and Mason Zimmerman(1). Keeper Jace Herbers recorded 13 saves.
Sunday morning Thunder faced PiperSC 2011/12 Purple from Kansas City, KS. The match started with two quick goals from Thunder by Dalton Herrman and Joey Fisher. PiperSC answered with a goal of their own before Fisher found the back of the net for a second time ending the first period 3-1. The second period started with a Fisher goal from an Austin Liles assist bringing their lead to 4-1. From there Thunder’s defense started to breakdown with PiperSC quickly scoring 3 goals to tie the match halfway through the second period. After a defensive battle to finish out the match PiperSC scored towards the end of the second period to take the match 5-4. The match saw shots on goal from Austin Liles(1), Dalton Herrman(5), Joey Fisher(6), and Mason Zimmerman(1). Logan Cunningham recorded 10 saves throughout the match.
For the final game in the round-robin tournament Thunder needed to win to have a chance to claim the title. To stay in the running for first place they need to win by at least a 4-goal margin for a potential tiebreaker. Thunder faced a well-coached Danger FC U12 Premier from Junction City, KS. With a short break between games and the team back to full strength, the boys showed up ready to play and jumped out to a quick 1-0 with a Joey Fisher goal from a Dalton Herrman assist. Fisher followed up with another goal bringing the score to 2-0 before Preston Dinkel and Logan Cunningham joined the action with a goal each for Thunder to jump to a 4-0 lead. Danger closed out the first period with a goal of their own preventing a shutout (another potential tiebreaker). Quick into the second period Dalton Herrman and Austin Liles found the back of the net bringing Thunder’s lead to 6-1 securing the 4-goal margin the team needed. Thunder wasn’t done yet with Herrman finding the back of the net again and Jace Herbers picking up the final goal ending the match 8-1. The match saw shots on goal from Austin Liles(2), Col Lonsdale(1), Dalton Herrman(5), Emery Zimmerman(5), Joey Fisher(4), Jace Herbers(1), Logan Cunningham(3), Mason Zimmerman(1), Nick Penka(2), and Preston Dinkel(2). Jace Herbers recorded 7 saves in the match with Joey Fisher recording 1 after taking over keeper duties late in the second period.
Both Thunder and Topeka Soccer Club’s Chelsea ended round-robin play with a 3-1 record with Thunder having the tiebreaker by beating Chelsea head-to-head securing Thunder’s third gold trophy for the season. Thunder finished their season 14-4-1 through 5 tournaments. They took home first-place finishes at the Wichita Open (Wichita), Fall Kickoff Challenge (Overland Park), and Nightmare on 17th Street (Topeka) tournaments and a second-place finish at the Challenger Sports Invitational (Overland Park). The Thunder will be back in action for the Spring soccer season.