GCCC stumbles in final home match

The chances were there for the Garden City Community College men's soccer team. But unable to take advantage of them, Kansas City Kansas made the most of its opportunity to come away with a 1-0 win Sunday.

It was the final home game of the regular season for the Broncbusters (10-2-1), and the first game they've lost at Memorial Stadium.

For most of the game, the Busters were able to keep KCK from penetrating much inside 20 yards of the goal. It wasn't until the 89th minute that the Blue Devils (9-2) got the one look at the goal they would need.

As the two Buster defenders guarded the goal heavily, KCK's Dustin Driskell got a shot off that bounced off one of the Buster defenders. GCCC goalkeeper Josh Ermey dove to make the save, but the ball got by him and into the net. Because the ball bounced off a defender, and changed the direction of the shot it was counted as an own goal.

It was the second time an own goal has decided the outcome of a Busters game. In the Dodge City game Sept. 28, the Busters had it work in their favor of a 1-0 win.

"I think from a possession standpoint, we probably possessed the ball 70 percent of the game, compared to what they did," Buster coach Jeff Huffman said. "(KCK) knew what they were doing coming into the game. They dropped behind the ball, and matched up with us, and they didn't get a lot of opportunities on goal."

The Busters' first and possibly best chance to score came in the opening 15 minutes. On an attack, Kyle French threaded his way through the Devils defense and spotted Steve Shaw open a foot from the goal. He passed the ball, and Shaw's header went wide left of the goal.

From that point, the defense's took over.

"I thought it was a well-fought game by both teams," KCK coach Todd Logan said. "We made some adjustments, and that's how we got a look at our goal.

"Garden City is a very good team."

The Busters had their second opportunity to score four minutes into the second half, but a Shaw shot attempt from 10 yards from the goal went right of the goal. The Busters couldn't get much of a look from there.

GCCC finished with four shots on goal, compared to the two the Devils got.

"This was a wake-up call for the boys," Huffman said. "They need to find their focus, because that makes the good teams better. We need to refocus on the task at hand."

The Busters have a week off before going to Cloud County on Oct. 17. Garden City beat the Thunderbirds the first time the two played Sept. 1, a 5-0 Busters win.