INDEPENDENCE — Tied in the closing minutes of regulation, Tate Thornburg scored the game-winning goal with 1:59 to go, lifting the Coffeyville-Field Kindley soccer team to a wild 2-1 victory over Montgomery County rival Independence in a Southeast Kansas League match Tuesday at Emmot Field.
The Golden Tornado earned a fourth straight victory to improve to 4-1-1 overall and 1-0-1 in the SEK. FKHS was coming off a championship performance at the Arkansas City Invitational, winning all three games against Mulvane, Augusta and Arkansas City by a combined score of 12-2. The ‘Nado will next host defending league champion Pittsburg Thursday in a pivotal SEK matchup.
“It was a great game with intense play from both teams,” said Coffeyville coach Courey Feerer. “I’m happy the team pulled the game out. We had a tough match the day before against Ark City. My guys were really tired, but they didn’t want to lose, and it showed with the never-say-die attitude and effort that they put in to get the result.”
The loss dropped the Bulldogs to 2-2-1 overall, including 1-1-1 in SEK action. They will next play Paola at home on Sept. 23.
“FKHS pushed the tempo of the game to a high level in the first 10 minutes of the game,” said Independence coach Max Bradbury. “We handled the tempo after the 10-minute mark. We had a lot of chances to score but just didn’t stick one in the net. I know this was a hard loss for us, but we need to focus on our next game.”
After a scoreless first half, the Bulldogs struck first with a goal from Eder Mejia in the 58th minute for a 1-0 lead.
Thornburg accounted for both of the Golden Tornado goals in the contest. The first came on a penalty kick in the 68th minute that evened the score. Later, he delivered the game-winner on a goal with just less than two minutes to go.
Coffeyville had 11 shots, including seven from Thornburg. Independence also had 12 shots, with Mejia recording a team-high four.