Wildcats edge past Parkway Central in thriller

In a fierce soccer battle between two district opponents, the Westminster Wildcats rallied for a thrilling 3-2 victory over the Parkway Central Colts on Friday afternoon.

Amidst the sweltering heat and blazing sun, the Wildcats (8-5-1) got off to a fast start as Frankie Sacco found Jack Bauer on a through ball which Bauer finished to give the Cats a 1-0 lead just ten minutes into the first half. However, the Colts (8-4-2) pushed back and evened the score eight minutes later on a beautiful free kick placed into the upper right corner. After a water break midway through the first half, the Colts came out firing and took a 2-1 lead going into halftime on a shot Westminster goaltender, Brandon Beat, deflected but was unable to keep out of the back of the net.

The play during most of the second half was even for both sides and neither team was able to create good scoring chances. Needing a goal to even the game, Westminster switched to a three forward attack in order to create more opportunities and this payed off as the Wildcats came close to scoring on several occasions. Finally, with just over six minutes remaining in the game, Connor Dolan, played a ball on a set piece which a Parkway Central defender touched with his hand inside the box, resulting in a penalty kick for Westminster. Frankie Sacco calmly stepped up and scored the equalizer for the Wildcats, collecting his team-leading 9th goal.

With just six minutes left, the game appeared to be heading to overtime but the Wildcats wouldn’t let this happen. They pressed the Parkway Central defense and with just under a minute left in the game, Harry Medler won a head ball and made a run into the penalty box before laying a perfect cross to David Kerckhoff, who slotted home the game winner with 23 seconds remaining.

Westminster head coach, Dan Legters, was thrilled with the effort his team put forth, saying, “They never quit and that’s what I’m most proud of. They fought back time after time and this was a big victory for us against a team we got beat badly by last year and a team will see again in districts.”

Westminster dropped the game against Parkway Central 8-0 last year and will face this same Parkway Central team in the first game of districts in late October.

The Wildcats play again at home on Tuesday versus Metro League foe Principia.