By LIONEL TIPTON
EL DORADO, Kansas – It’s too bad Tuesday was a school night.
Otherwise, the postgame celebration for the team’s first boys soccer victory since Sept. 26, 2023, could have gone a lot longer.
Senior midfielder Taidhgin Mora-Bruce’s penalty kick eluded the Mulvane goalkeeper in the 72nd minute, and El Dorado’s 30-game winless streak could finally be laid to rest with a 2-1 victory.
“It feels good to be back in the ‘W’ column, so I’m happy about that,” Mora-Bruce said afterward.
The teams had scored first-half goals within 25 seconds of each other and went into the halftime break deadlocked at 1-1.
But Mora-Bruce drove in deep on the Mulvane defense and was sandwiched by two players only about 10 feet from the goal mouth, becoming entangled with both, and the penalty was called.
“The (Mulvane) players were chipping on me, and I was just chipping at the refs, so I just tried to stay level-headed, and it worked out for us in the end,” he said.
Mora-Bruce lined up the shot and tucked it into the left side of the net.
“I was just fake him right and go left; that’s what I did in my first penalty shot of the season,” Mora-Bruce said. “It worked that time, and it worked this time as well.”
Even though it had taken the lead, questions remained as to whether it could maintain it and end the losing streak, which included three ties – two of those this year.
That is where another senior, goalkeeper Jordan Linson, stepped up and made some sparkling saves to preserve the triumph. Linson played the second half after missing the first half.
“He saves us a lot, so I’m happy for him,” Mora-Bruce said. “But Manny (freshman Manuel Viveros-Herrera) did well for us in the first half.”
Mora-Bruce’s goal was El Dorado’s fifth of the season in the seventh match – one fewer that it recorded all of last season in 16 matches.
“We’ve been scoring a lot more than last season, so that’s good,” Mora-Bruce said.
Senior midfielder Delken Hall got the equalizer for El Dorado at 25:00 after Mulvane’s Gunner Uhrig had broken in and put a shot past El Dorado freshman goalkeeper Manuel Viveros-Herrera just 25 seconds earlier.
Both teams entered searching for their first victory of the season. El Dorado had two ties to go with its four losses; Mulvane had lost all seven of its previous games this season.
Each team’s previous victory had come against the other, and strangely enough, both teams share the same nickname – Wildcats.
El Dorado recorded a 1-0 victory on Sept. 26, 2023 – one day after it got its only other victory of that season, a 1-0 overtime decision at the Wichita Homeschool Warriors. That victory avenged a 6-1 loss at Mulvane in the season-opener.
A year later Mulvane came into BG Products Stadium and left with a 2-0 victory in its second-to-last game of the season and sweeping the season series from El Dorado.
The two teams are scheduled to finish the regular season Oct. 23 at Mulvane. Before that game, El Dorado has eight games remaining. Two of those games are against Circle, and El Dorado will travel to face the Thunderbirds in its next game after Ark City on Oct. 2.
Next up for El Dorado will be trying to put together a winning streak. Its next game is Thursday at home against Arkansas City (4-2), whose only losses this season have been to Valley Center (6-0-1). The Bulldogs are faring better than they did last season, when they finished 7-10.
“We’re definitely going to take this momentum into Thursday, so I’m excited for that,” Mora-Bruce said.
Building off this victory could help El Dorado the rest of the season, Mora-Bruce said.
“I think we can string together a couple more hard-fought games like this and get a couple more wins,” he said.
El Dorado 2, Mulvane 1
Mulvane 1 0 – 1
El Dorado 1 1 – 2
SCORING
First half – 1. Mulvane, Uhrig, 24:35. 2. El Dorado, Hall, 25:00.
Second half – 3. El Dorado, Mora-Bruce (penalty kick), 72:44.
Shots on goal/Saves – Mulvane on Viveros-Herrera and Linson, eight shots, seven saves. El Dorado on Mulvane, six shots, four saves.
BY LIONEL TIPTON
Mora-Bruce kicks El Dorado into win column
By LIONEL TIPTON
EL DORADO, Kansas – It’s too bad Tuesday was a school night.
Otherwise, the postgame celebration for the team’s first boys soccer victory since Sept. 26, 2023, could have gone a lot longer.
Senior midfielder Taidhgin Mora-Bruce’s penalty kick eluded the Mulvane goalkeeper in the 72nd minute, and El Dorado’s 30-game winless streak could finally be laid to rest with a 2-1 victory.
“It feels good to be back in the ‘W’ column, so I’m happy about that,” Mora-Bruce said afterward.
The teams had scored first-half goals within 25 seconds of each other and went into the halftime break deadlocked at 1-1.
But Mora-Bruce drove in deep on the Mulvane defense and was sandwiched by two players only about 10 feet from the goal mouth, becoming entangled with both, and the penalty was called.
“The (Mulvane) players were chipping on me, and I was just chipping at the refs, so I just tried to stay level-headed, and it worked out for us in the end,” he said.
Mora-Bruce lined up the shot and tucked it into the left side of the net.
“I was just fake him right and go left; that’s what I did in my first penalty shot of the season,” Mora-Bruce said. “It worked that time, and it worked this time as well.”
Even though it had taken the lead, questions remained as to whether it could maintain it and end the losing streak, which included three ties – two of those this year.
That is where another senior, goalkeeper Jordan Linson, stepped up and made some sparkling saves to preserve the triumph. Linson played the second half after missing the first half because of a disciplinary issue.
“He saves us a lot, so I’m happy for him,” Mora-Bruce said. “But Manny (freshman Manuel Viveros-Herrera) did well for us in the first half.”
Mora-Bruce’s goal was El Dorado’s fifth of the season in the seventh match – one fewer that it recorded all of last season in 16 matches.
“We’ve been scoring a lot more than last season, so that’s good,” Mora-Bruce said.
Senior midfielder Delken Hall got the equalizer for El Dorado at 25:00 after Mulvane’s Gunner Uhrig had broken in and put a shot past El Dorado freshman goalkeeper Manuel Viveros-Herrera just 25 seconds earlier.
Both teams entered searching for their first victory of the season. El Dorado had two ties to go with its four losses; Mulvane had lost all seven of its previous games this season.
Each team’s previous victory had come against the other, and strangely enough, both teams share the same nickname – Wildcats.
El Dorado recorded a 1-0 victory on Sept. 26, 2023 – one day after it got its only other victory of that season, a 1-0 overtime decision at the Wichita Homeschool Warriors. That victory avenged a 6-1 loss at Mulvane in the season-opener.
A year later Mulvane came into BG Products Stadium and left with a 2-0 victory in its second-to-last game of the season and sweeping the season series from El Dorado.
The two teams are scheduled to finish the regular season Oct. 23 at Mulvane. Before that game, El Dorado has eight games remaining. Two of those games are against Circle, and El Dorado will travel to face the Thunderbirds in its next game after Ark City on Oct. 2.
Next up for El Dorado will be trying to put together a winning streak. Its next game is Thursday at home against Arkansas City (4-2), whose only losses this season have been to Valley Center (6-0-1). The Bulldogs are faring better than they did last season, when they finished 7-10.
“We’re definitely going to take this momentum into Thursday, so I’m excited for that,” Mora-Bruce said.
Building off this victory could help El Dorado the rest of the season, Mora-Bruce said.
“I think we can string together a couple more hard-fought games like this and get a couple more wins,” he said.
El Dorado 2, Mulvane 1
Mulvane 1 0 – 1
El Dorado 1 1 – 2
SCORING
First half – 1. Mulvane, Uhrig, 24:35. 2. El Dorado, Hall, 25:00.
Second half – 3. El Dorado, Mora-Bruce (penalty kick), 72:44.
Shots on goal/Saves – Mulvane on Viveros-Herrera and Linson, eight shots, seven saves. El Dorado on Mulvane, six shots, four saves.
