Willard boys soccer takes district championship with shutout win

The Willard High School boys soccer team entered the Class 3, District 11 Tournament at Springfield last week as the No. 3 seed, they left as district champions, after knocking off Parkview 5-0 on Thursday, Nov. 6.
Willard’s Jay Weber, Caleb Kuchta, Chris Doyle, Joseph Lupescu and Will Johnson all had goals in the win. Johnson also added
two assists and Kuchta and Lupescu each had an assist in the win.
“These young men earned this district championship,” said head Tim Magee. “Not much was expected from them outside of our locker room after losing so many seniors last year. But through their hard work, being coachable and focusing on improving little by little, they accomplished a goal that was set as the season began.”
Willard opened the tournament by defeating Bolivar 1-0 in the semifinals on Tuesday, Nov. 4, on a penalty kick by Weber.
“We had control of the game for all but the last 10 minutes,” said Magee. “At that point we were just holding on for dear life. We had been in control but just couldn’t find the back of the net as Bolivar was getting a lot of bodies back and made it tough for us to get a clean shot. Their keeper was on
point for the night as well. Even though we struggled to score, we continued to put pressure on them.”
Willard is now 12-13 on the season as was sched- uled to host Neosho in the sectional round on Tuesday night. The Tigers lost to Neosho in the Willard Fall Classic, 1-0 on Oct. 4, in a rain shortened game but bounced back and beat the Wildcats, 5-3, at Willard on Oct. 8.