Formation change has boys soccer team starting to find scoring groove

Back-to-back home wins last week gave the Kingfisher boys’ soccer team its first win streak of the season.

The Jackets scored five unanswered goals Thursday night to defeat Tuttle 6-1 on senior night.

They followed it up Friday with an 8-0 district win at home against Dove Science Academy, which was a makeup game from earlier in the season.

It’s the first time KHS has won back-to-back games this season. The Jackets have won three of their last four with the lone loss being a setback to Mount St. Mary that went all the way to penalty kicks.

“I think we’ve finally figured out what lineup to use and who to have in the game in order to have better offensive efficiency,” said coach Isaac Waltman. Prior to the April 5 match against Alva, which the Jackets won 10-0, KHS had scored multiple goals only once all season.

They have 24 in their last four matchups.

“We have a lot of talent that has not been utilized on the bench until recently because of the formation that we were using and the style of play that we were aiming for,” Waltman said.

“Now with the changes that we’ve made, we have been able to put a lot more points on the board. I think the boys are coming together and we’re seeing a lot more team unity and motivation.”

Zander Padilla scored two goals in Thursday’s win, including the first, a header off a corner kick in the first half.

Tuttle tied it up with a goal later in the half, but the Jackets regained some momentum before the break.

Padilla passed around a defender to Eduardo DeLa-Torre, who turned it into a goal for a 2-1 lead.

The second half was all Jackets.

Padilla got his second goal of the night to put the Jackets up 3-1 early in the half thanks to an assist from Reid Witt.

Hayden Green made it to 4-1 with a free kick that he bent around the defense to the left side of the net.

Rhett Schlegel’s follow- up goal made it 5-1 and then Maddox Jarvis capped the scoring with a late goal.

Jarvis also had an assist on the night.

Meanwhile senior keeper Diego Muñoz collected 13 saves.

He had six saves in the shutout win over Dove Science.

Padilla delivered a hat trick, but it was DeLaTorre who got the Jackets going early.

He scored their first two goals for an early lead.

Santiago Ortega used a header off a free kick to push it to 3-0.

Padilla scored next, followed by Ortega’s second goal of the night.

After Witt pushed one over a charging goalkeeper’s head for a 6-0 lead, Padilla claimed the next two goals for KHS.

The win against Dove Science gave the Jackets a 2-3 mark in District 3A-2 with games remaining at Cordell on Tuesday (after press time) and Thursday at Community Christian.

To reach the playoffs, KHS needs wins in both matchups as well as receive some help in other district games.