The Park Hill South boys’ soccer team (4-2) is off to its best start since 2018 and has outscored opponents 14-7 thus far into the season.
The Panthers have had two shutouts so far – in their first and last games – starting with a 5-0 season opening win over Lee’s Summit West (6-3) on August 26 and 3-0 victory over Staley (5-2) on September 15. The Panthers had six shots on goal in their most recent game, while the Falcons only had one.
Park Hill South shared the ball well, having three different players score and outpassing Staley 107 to 73. The Panthers’ longest pass string was 17 and they completed 60 percent of their passes.
Park Hill South set the tone for the contest as Dante Toapanta took a cross from T.J. Rouse and scored a goal in the third minute. Rouse added to the lead at 21’ after a dish from Quinlan McNellis with one pass buildup and the Panthers had a 2-0 advantage at the break.
The only score in the second half happened in the 55th minute when Rouse had his second assist of the night. Rouse found McNellis, who connected with the Panthers’ third goal of the night.
Park Hill South has only lost two games on the season to this point – a 3-1 loss to Olathe West (7-0) on September 3 and a 2-1 defeat by Raymore-Peculiar (6-0) on September 13 – while also coming out on top 2-1 over Olathe East (2-3) on September 3 and beating Blue Springs (2-4) by a score of 2-1 on September 6. The Panthers will host Liberty North on the morning of Saturday, September 24, at 10 a.m.