Special to Salina Post
A tale of two halves. That was the story on Thursday when the Arkansas City Bullpups visited Salina Stadium to take on the Salina Central Mustangs.
After spotting the visitors a 1-0 lead in the first few minutes, the Mustangs found their footing and used an 18-2 shot advantage to take a 4-1 victory.
Ark City used a give-and-go to grab the early lead. The Mustangs were plagued by unforced passing errors, players out of position, and rushed shots. At the halftime break, the visitors clung to the 1-0 lead.
Coming out after the break, Avery Regier pounced on a bad Bullpup pass. A quick one-on-one duel with the goalie ended with the ball in the back of the net and the score tied at 1-1. Just six minutes later, Ricky Picasso found the goal to put the Mustangs up 2-1.
The Bullpups had scarcely recovered from the quick reversal when Regier combined with Sergio De La Torre for another score less than two minutes later. The Bullpup goalie was unable to corral De La Torre’s shot and Regier finessed the loose ball into the net for a 3-1 CHS advantage.
Liam Foley’s goal with four minutes remaining slipped past the Ark City defenders to make the final margin 4-1.
Central goalie Grant Sheppard was rarely challenged, collecting one to balance the early Ark City score.
“Everyone who stepped onto the field performed at the expected level and was part of a good performance,” said assistant coach Leonel Alvarado.
“We came into the second half with one basic skill in mind that would fix the rest of our game: Communicate,” Alvarado added.
The Mustangs travel to Goddard on Tuesday, then return home on Thursday to host Buhler.
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A special thank you to Leonel Alvarado and Danton McDiffett from Salina Central for providing the above story and photos.