Olathe United Moves To Top Of The Table With Hard-Fought 1-0 Victory Over Unbeaten Woodland FC

Starters Front Row: Max Leiker, Andrew Ward, Reuben Kester, Archie Esh, Ethan Bowman Second Row: Jordan Smith, Rory Stenhouse, Simon Esh, Bilal Olayiwala, Dylan Meier, Khary Hasam

Olathe United remained unbeaten after a hard-fought home victory over last year's champions Wooodland FC by a final score of 1-0. The game was decided by a penalty kick awarded to the home club in the 78th minute which captain, Reuben Kester calmly finished to the right side of the goal as the Woodland keeper dove to his right.

The game lived up to expectations with both teams possessing the ball for stretches in their defensive thirds and middle thirds of the field. Woodland started off on their front foot and really took it to Olathe United for the first 10 minutes before Olathe United got their feet underneath them. After that, it was more a back and forth affair with Woodland having the better opportunities in front of goal. Olathe United's defense played their best game of the year and goalie Khary Hasam had 3 very important saves for the home team in the first half which kept Woodland off the scoreboard. OU was able to possess for some very long stretches but was unable to produce anything of significance in the final third.

The second half was much of the same with OU going to their only 4 substitutes early in the half which changed the energy level for OU. Woodland had several nice possessions down their left side with crosses or passes into the box that were able to be cleared by OU's defense. Both teams countered quickly when given the opportunity but neither keeper was severely tested. In the 78th minute, OU striker Parker Hurla was able to get a step on the Woodland defender on the left side of the box and was dragged down from behind. OU was awarded a PK which Kester calmly finished for the only goal of the game. The remaining 12 minutes plus stoppage time saw Woodland playing a man down and pressing for the tying goal. OU midfielder, Max Leiker almost gave the home squad a 2 goal lead with an unbelievable bit of dribbling, beating 3 Woodland defenders before shooting high with 3 minutes left. OU's defense held on for their first clean sheet of the season in a hard-fought game that was fun to watch.

After the game, Coach Todd Esh had the following comments: "We knew this was going to be a hard fought game against a great club and it certainly lived up to expectations. Woodland is a well-coached team made up of outstanding players. They really took it to us, especially in the first 10 to 15 minutes. After we settled in, I thought we played very well. I knew this was going to be a 1-0 or 2-1 type game. We talked a lot about keeping the ball instead of being impatient and I thought that we did that today. We also talked about minimizing mistakes which we did today. I thought my 2 high schoolers did very well in their roles and our defense and mids played outstanding. This was our 4th time playing together with our 4th different lineup. Our back line has been consistent so we are seeing them gel a little bit more. We have very good offensive players and that will fall into place as the season progresses. Woodland has an outstanding defense as well. This was a very nice win but we can't rest on our laurels as we have quick turnaround before we play again on Tuesday night."

OU travels to Overland Park to play Real OP on Tuesday, April 29 at 6PM at Blue Valley Switzer District Actvity Complex.