The Hays Soccer Club’s U12 Thunder went 3-0-1 at the Air Capital Cup last weekend in Wichita, KS. The Thunder started pool play against Kansas Rush Wichita on a cold and windy Saturday morning. Kansas Rush came out strong, resulting in a goal midway through the first period. Thunder answered right back with a goal of their own from Dalton Herman with Joey Fisher providing the assist ending the first period tied at one. Kansas Rush kept the pressure up in the second period and picked up another goal early in the second period. Thunder answered again with a goal from Stryker Berry off a Mason Zimmerman assist before the match was called due to lightning in the area. The match saw shots on goal from Dalton Herrman(3), Stryker Berry(2), Joey Fisher(3), Jace Herbers(1), and Emery Zimmerman(3). Logan Cunningham was the sole keeper for the match and ended with 3 saves.

The second Saturday match was against the Topeka Soccer Club’s Grey Lions. Emery Zimmerman kicked off an early Thunder scoring run with an assisted goal early in the first period. Joey Fisher followed Zimmerman with a goal of his own before Emery found the back of the net for the second time in the match putting Thunder up 3-0. The Grey Lions refused to be shut out and picked up a goal of their own midway through the first period. Dalton Herrman answered back with a 4^th Thunder goal followed by Fisher’s second goal of the match bringing the score to 5-1 at the end of the first period. Thunder wasn’t done scoring yet with Fisher picking up the hat trick with his 3^rd goal of the game followed by a Col Lonsdale goal bringing the final score to 7-1. The match saw shots on goal from Dalton Herrman(2), Stryker Berry(2), Noah DeBay(1), Joey Fisher(4), Mason Zimmerman(1), Col Lonsdale(1), Emery Zimmerman(2), and Preston Dinkel(1). Jace Herbers was the sole keeper for the match and ended with 1 save.

Thunder drew the early Sunday morning match against NKC FC Argentina (Salina). Cold temperatures continued but that didn’t seem to affect Thunder as Dalton Herrman started the scoring run with two early goals in the first period with Joey Fisher assisting on the second goal. Fisher got in on the scoring action with a goal of his own off a Mason Zimmerman assist bringing the score to 3-0 at the end of the first half. With a shot at the championship game on the line, Thunder didn’t let up in the second period. Herrman picked up his own hat trick with an early goal in the second period from a Fisher assist. Fisher, not being left out, picked up his second hat trick of the tournament with two more goals in the second period, both off of Mason Zimmerman Assists. FC Argentina wouldn’t be shut out though, they kept up the pressure and picked up a goal late in the second period making the final score 6-1. The match saw shots on goal from Dalton Herrman(5), Noah DeBay(1), Joey Fisher(4), Col Lonsdale(1), Emery Zimmerman(2), Preston Dinkel(1), and Nick Penka(1). Logan Cunningham was the sole keeper of the match and ended with 6 saves.

Ending with a 2-0-1 record Thunder advanced to the championship match against their first opponent, Kansas Rush Wichita. The match saw strong winds blowing goal to goal with Thunder going against the wind in the first half of the match. The wind proved to be a major factor with Thunder battling to put together runs up field. Rush Wichita took advantage of being with the wind and picked up two early goals in the first period. Thunder fought back and keep Rush from scoring in the remainder of the second half. With the wind on their side, Thunder picked up their first goal from a long kick from the foot of Noah DeBay. Keeping the pressure on Thunder’s Joey Fisher tied the game at 2 with a goal midway through the second period. As Rush adjusted to the wind the match played out at a stalemate with Thunder applying pressure and the Rush defense keeping them at bay. As both sides prepared for extra time Joey Fisher broke through and put the ball in the back of the net in the 59^th minute to put the Thunder up by 1 to secure the victory. The match saw shots on goal from Dalton Herrman(3), Stryker Berry(1), Noah DeBay(1), Joey Fisher(4), Jace Herbers(3), Col Lonsdale(1), and Emery Zimmerman(2). Jace Herbers and Logan Cunningham were keepers for the match ending with 1 save and 4 saves respectively.

With this first-place finish at Wichita, the Hays Thunder end their 2022-2023 season 20-4-3 with seven tournaments taking home gold medals from Wichita Open (Wichita), Fall Kickoff Challenge (Overland Park), Nightmare on 17^th Street (Topeka), Sporting Next Gen Invitational (Kansas City), Air Capital Cup (Wichita) and a second-place finish at the Challenger Sports Invitational (Overland Park).

As the Thunder boys move on to Middle School the team has come to its conclusion. The Hays Thunder was started 5 years ago by Adam Fisher. They end their run with a record of 68-34-11 with 412 goals scored and 234 goals allowed. They picked up 9 tournament wins, 8 tournament runner-ups, and 1 League Championship (Wichita).  The Thunder was coached in their final season by Adam Fisher and Ty Berry.