Soccer rivals get first look at each other

If last week’s matchup between Park Hill and Park Hill South is any indication of the future excitement between these two rivals, there will be a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks for these two teams. In front of a near-capacity crowd last Wednesday, both teams, who are considered two of the best in the metro, squared off in the first of what could be four matchups this season. Park Hill South would pull out a 2-1 victory over Park Hill, but the anticipation and physical nature of the game left plenty on the field for the next scheduled game between the two Oct. 15 or even earlier during the tournament the Panthers host next week.

Even with strong senior classes at the helm of both teams, each knew the advantages and disadvantages of playing in front of a highly fueled crowd, each hoping to stay focused on the task at hand.

“We tried to take this just as any other game,” Park Hill South coach Joe Toigo said. “We need to keep doing what we’ve prepared ourself for all season. We didn’t put anything extra on this game. It’s hard to keep high school kids settled with this much yelling and screaming. I think they kept their composure pretty good tonight."

“We told ourselves coming into this game that the team that would win is the team who stayed the most emotionally balanced, focused and didn’t let those tie into the game,” Park Hill coach Josh Marchbank said. “It’s tough when you have an atmosphere like tonight.”

Park Hill South’s Jordan Lindsey sent the Panther faithful into a roar when he scored the game’s first goal just minutes in to put the Panthers up 1-0 early. Scoring would not be what defined the contest though, as tough and physical play went back and forth throughout the night. Park Hill South would widen its lead in the second half when Andrew Gonzalez added a goal to put the game solely in the Panthers’ control. Park Hill would fight back though when Timmy Hay scored around the nine-minute mark. Several Park Hill attempts to tie the score late went unconverted as the Panther defense held, giving the first matchup between the two teams to the Panthers.

“We’re probably going to see them three more times this year. This is only game one. What counts is how we respond,” Marchbank said. “It was disappointing, I think we lost focus for a bit and they slipped it behind us. Two simple mistakes cost us the game tonight. We have a week off, which is good because this game takes a physical and emotional toll.” 

While Park Hill, now 8-2, had the chance to rest with the remainder of their week off before preparing for another round of tough conference matchups, Park Hill South continued on with a tough stretch that runs into this week. They defeated Ruskin 9-0 before playing tough Olathe East in a previously rained out tournament title game where the Panthers won 2-1 on penalty kicks. While running up an impressive 10-2 record so far this year, Toigo says his team has played a lot of close games and in order to improve they need to make sure they don’t leave themselves vulnerable to game-costing mistakes.

“We’ve played a lot of close games. We’re not even averaging 2 goals a game,” Toigo said. “We need to finish better. We’re 8-2, but could easily be 2-8 because our margin of error is so narrow with the amount of goals we’re scoring."

Park Hill South plays at Truman and hosts St. Joe Central this week before starting their own tournament next week while Park Hill looks next to this week’s games against Lee’s Summit West and then Oak Park at Livestrong Sporting Park.