By LIONEL TIPTON

ANDOVER, Kansas – Expectations weren’t very high for Andover’s girls soccer team this season after the Trojans graduated seven starters a year ago.

But even though Andover is off to an 0-2 start, those defeats have occurred in pretty much the most frustrating ways imaginable.

In Tuesday’s opener, the Trojans battled host Valley Center through 80 minutes before surrendering a goal in overtime.

Likewise, in the home opener Thursday night against a Derby team that came in 1-0 after a 3-2 overtime victory of its own at Rose Hill, Andover again stood tall, but the Trojans were done in by a second-half free kick that stood up in their second straight 1-0 loss.

“We’re a very young team, and we’re just learning to play with each other, and we’re trying to figure out how to win these games,” Trojans coach Kevin Law said.

The biggest need is to develop cohesiveness, Law said.

“Getting these girls to adapt to playing with each other, because they all come from separate club teams,” he said. “So, we’ve just got to get them used to each other in game situations, and they need to know what we expect from them on the field.”

Both games were winnable, Law said.

“We could have won both of these games very easily,” he said. “We had numerous opportunities on crosses (Thursday) … it could have hit them on any part of their body, and they could have scored.”

Law said he saw improvement in the second half against Derby.

“Even in this game alone, our first half was terrible,” he said. “Our second half, I thought we played more of the style of what we want to.

“We talked about it at halftime, and they did what they needed to do, and we played a pretty good second half.”

One key adjustment was bringing his defenders deeper into the opponents’ zone, Law said.

“Getting our outside backs, getting (senior) Bailee Hubler and (junior) Ellie Garrett up the field more attacking instead of sitting back,” Law said. “That helped a lot.

“The first half, they didn’t go at all; the second half, they were attacking pretty hard, and that put more pressure on (Derby).”

Despite the outcomes, the Trojans have battled throughout, Law said.

“I like the fight – the girls have fight,” he said. “We’ve just got to be more creative and realize that we can attack with more numbers, instead of just sitting back.”

In the Class 5A West standings, other 0-2 teams have given up as many as nine goals in their first two games, compared with Andover’s two.

Finding goals will be a major challenge, Law said.

“We’re going to struggle to score,” he said. “We are trying to identify who is going to be the scorer – we lost probably 90 percent of our scoring (to graduation). So now that we have all these young kids, they just have to get the nerve to go to goal (and) don’t be afraid to make mistakes.”

That’s easier said than done, Law said.

“To be honest, that’s probably just going to take minutes on the field,” he said. “Game time … to get forward and get comfortable, to make the play.”

Law said that some of the frustration could be somewhat alleviated once the Trojans break through and get their first goal of the season.

Andover has managed to avoid being routed in part because of stellar goalkeeping from sophomores Cole Torgerson and Lizzie Schlabsz. They have the unenviable task of replacing four-year

starter Brooklyn Lynch, who has taken her talents to Butler. Torgerson played against Valley Center, and Schlabsz was in the net against Derby.

“We have two very high-level goalkeepers,” Law said. “That is the strength we have, is in our keepers.

“They both have a game in so far, and they both have kept us in games. That’s all we can ask.”

In the Derby game, the Trojans couldn’t quite take advantage of having a 23-mph wind at their back in the first half.

But in the second half, adjustments that Law made at the break provided better opportunities despite going against the wind in the second half.

Andover did manage to apply more pressure to Panthers senior goalkeeper Riley Lones, who made the save on five shots on goal in the game.

Meanwihle, Schlabsz made three saves on Derby shots on goal.

But it came down to the free kick from fairly close in (23 yards) by Panthers senior Mackenzie Cunningham that eluded her at the 60:19 mark and was the difference in the game.

“The goal came on a free kick,” he said. “It wasn’t in the flow of the play.”

With such a young team, the Trojans will need to quickly build up some experience and will get another shot Monday, again facing a Class 6A team in Garden City at the Goddard Eisenhower tournament. A victory over the Buffaloes, who will be playing their season-opener, could create an all-Butler County second-round matchup against Rose Hill.

“Rose Hill plays Goddard (in the first round),” Law said. “If we beat Garden City, we’ll play the winner of that game.

“Our schedule doesn’t get any easier, for sure. But you’ve got to fight through it and play your best soccer at the end of the year.”

Derby 1, Andover 0

Derby 0 1 – 1

Andover 0 0 – 0

Scoring

First half: No scoring.

Second half: 1. Cunningham (free kick), 60:19.

Shots on goal: Andover on Lones, five shots, five saves. Derby on Schlabsz, four shots, three saves