Park Hill South sophomore William Bowne celebrates after scoring his first of two goals in the Panthers’ 3-2 win over Park Hill on Oct. 5.
PARKVILLE – William Bowne came to the rescue with two goals, including the game-winner, to help the Park Hill South boys’ soccer team (8-2) give Park Hill (11-1) its first loss of the season on Oct. 5.
The anticipation was high with both teams coming in with impressive records and the atmosphere showed as the bleachers were full of red and purple. Since 2020, all six matchups have been decided by one goal, which includes the 3-2 win by Park Hill South.
“This is always going to be a good game, it doesn’t matter who the underdog is, who is ranked where, it’s always a battle,” Park Hill South head boys’ soccer coach Chris Farmer said. “These guys grew up playing soccer with each other a lot and play on the same club teams, so we know it’s going to be a battle.”
The first half was competitive, with multiple scoring opportunities that didn’t result in a goal. In the 32nd minute, the Panthers took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Ty Stone.
Park Hill’s Luka Andonovski scored the game-tying goal in the second half after falling behind 2-0 against Park Hill South.
“What a great high school game,” Park Hill head boys’ soccer coach Gareth Pritchard said. “It’s so great for this area for two good high schools to come out like this and play like that.”
Park Hill South went into the break with a 1-0 lead and added to that in the second half. Right over 12 minutes after halftime, Zack Adams had a corner kick and Bowne put back a missed a shot to extend the Panthers’ lead 2-0.
“We just tried to come in prepared for that coach and I told the boys to try and take the emotion out of it as much as they can. I think we did a pretty good job of that tonight compared to most nights,” Farmer said.
The 2-0 deficit was the largest the Trojans faced all year. Park Hill didn’t panic, scoring two goals and tying the game with right under 13 minutes left.
Park Hill’s first shot on goal in the second half found the back of the net as Daiggen Gaar converted from right outside the box in the 64th minute. Luka Andonovski followed his own shot and finished it off to tie the game.
Park Hill South’s Isaiah Mesa (#14) and Park Hill’s Hudson Browne (#26) go up to try and headbutt the ball in the Panthers 3-2 win over the Trojans.
“They played well, but for us to show character and the grit to come back and tie it at two was immense. They showed me they’ve got a little bit about them, and they’ve got that grit and that’ll take us a long way,” Pritchard said.
In the final 10 minutes, Park Hill and Park Hill South ran up and down the field on multiple occasions as the possession continued to change. With right under three minutes left, Bowne came up clutch with the game-winning goal.
“William (Bowne) is a player. We knew that when he came in as a freshman; he’s a very technical player, a little bit smaller build, but he plays like he’s six feet tall. He doesn’t back down from tackles, takes guys on; he puts himself in the right spots at the right time and it was big time tonight,” Farmer said.
Park Hill South sophomore William Bowne scored off a corner kick in the first half on Oct. 5.
Park Hill had a few more chances late but couldn’t quite erase another deficit. The Trojans had opened up the year with 11 wins and zero losses before the Panthers prevailed.
“We came in early in the summer and these guys turned up to every single workout. We didn’t have to change too much because we have some good players who work hard. This is a great group of kids that get along and show character of hard work and what it brings, and they went on a run and kept on going,” Pritchard said.
Park Hill South went on to play Blue Valley Southwest (4-5-2) in the 810 Classic and won 3-2 on Oct. 7. The Panthers recently had a six-game winning streak snapped in a 2-0 loss to Liberty North (11-3) on Oct. 3 before they beat the Trojans.
“We talked to the guys on Tuesday about how they’re going to respond to this adversity. We’ve had some missing pieces, so we’ve had other guys who have been stepping up,” Farmer said.
Next up for Park Hill is a home game against Lee’s Summit (3-7) as Park Hill South will head to Lee’s Summit North (3-12-1) on Oct. 12. The Panthers and Trojans will play again on Oct. 24 and could potentially meet in the Class 4 District 8 Tournament, as well.