Southeast boys defeat East in overtime
Jordan Green has played countless soccer games.
From the bunch ball days of his youth to club soccer to four seasons on the Lincoln Southeast varsity team.
“(But) that’s one to remember,” said Green, after Southeast beat Lincoln East 3-2 in overtime on Tuesday at the Abbott Sports Complex.
Green scored the game-winning goal with 30 seconds remaining in overtime. He headed a corner kick by Tyler Kohmetscher into the far corner of the goal for the winning score.
The win was memorable for many reasons, most noteworthy: clinching the first time in five seasons the Knights have beaten Lincoln East.
Also, Southeast has won six straight games, and the win against the ninth-ranked Spartans was Southeast’s third against a ranked opponent in four days.
Green had two goals and an assist, with John Rutford getting the Knights’ other goal. Cameron Meter and Brandon Videtich scored for Lincoln East (5-3).
The score everyone will remember is the goal in the 99th minute of play to complete what had been a back-and-forth game, played during wind gusts which Southeast coach Linda Wilson described as the worst she’s encountered in 16 years of coaching.
With the wind in its favor in the second half, Southeast had chances to score, including hitting the cross bar with 30 seconds remaining in regulation, but couldn’t convert.
Southeast played with an advantage in overtime after East went a player down after being assessed a red card, and the Knights continued to have the best scoring chances. Finally, with only moments remaining before the game would have to be settled by a shootout, Kohmetscher booted a perfectly placed corner kick, Green broke loose from his defender, and headed the ball into the corner of the net.
“The team was going crazy,” Green said, “we didn’t want to have to go to another shootout.”
Those are the kind of plays Wilson has come to expect from Green, who will play soccer next season at Nebraska Wesleyan. With his ninth goal of the season Tuesday, Green set the school record for goals in a career (39), breaking the mark set by volunteer assistant coach Chris Hamburger. Green also holds records for assists in a season and career.
“One of the reasons we score a lot of goals is because Jordan sets a lot of players up,” Wilson said. “He’s a really quality player, there’s no doubt about it.”
With only six returning players, Southeast had its struggles to begin the season. Many of those returning were proven goal scores, but even that wasn’t enough.
“We pretty much stunk at the beginning of the year, and the players will agree with me on that,” Wilson said.
“We started with Columbus, and that was a 4-1 loss. Later we played North Platte and lost 5-0, and we’re thinking, ‘Oh, my gosh.’”
Following losses in two of its first three games, the only place to go was up, Wilson said. With wins against Elkhorn, Omaha Westside and Lincoln East in the past week, the Knights are on their way.
“After our start,” Wilson said, “we wouldn’t have expected that.”
Reach Brent C. Wagner at 473-7435 or bwagner@journalstar.com.
From the bunch ball days of his youth to club soccer to four seasons on the Lincoln Southeast varsity team.
“(But) that’s one to remember,” said Green, after Southeast beat Lincoln East 3-2 in overtime on Tuesday at the Abbott Sports Complex.
Green scored the game-winning goal with 30 seconds remaining in overtime. He headed a corner kick by Tyler Kohmetscher into the far corner of the goal for the winning score.
The win was memorable for many reasons, most noteworthy: clinching the first time in five seasons the Knights have beaten Lincoln East.
Also, Southeast has won six straight games, and the win against the ninth-ranked Spartans was Southeast’s third against a ranked opponent in four days.
Green had two goals and an assist, with John Rutford getting the Knights’ other goal. Cameron Meter and Brandon Videtich scored for Lincoln East (5-3).
The score everyone will remember is the goal in the 99th minute of play to complete what had been a back-and-forth game, played during wind gusts which Southeast coach Linda Wilson described as the worst she’s encountered in 16 years of coaching.
With the wind in its favor in the second half, Southeast had chances to score, including hitting the cross bar with 30 seconds remaining in regulation, but couldn’t convert.
Southeast played with an advantage in overtime after East went a player down after being assessed a red card, and the Knights continued to have the best scoring chances. Finally, with only moments remaining before the game would have to be settled by a shootout, Kohmetscher booted a perfectly placed corner kick, Green broke loose from his defender, and headed the ball into the corner of the net.
“The team was going crazy,” Green said, “we didn’t want to have to go to another shootout.”
Those are the kind of plays Wilson has come to expect from Green, who will play soccer next season at Nebraska Wesleyan. With his ninth goal of the season Tuesday, Green set the school record for goals in a career (39), breaking the mark set by volunteer assistant coach Chris Hamburger. Green also holds records for assists in a season and career.
“One of the reasons we score a lot of goals is because Jordan sets a lot of players up,” Wilson said. “He’s a really quality player, there’s no doubt about it.”
With only six returning players, Southeast had its struggles to begin the season. Many of those returning were proven goal scores, but even that wasn’t enough.
“We pretty much stunk at the beginning of the year, and the players will agree with me on that,” Wilson said.
“We started with Columbus, and that was a 4-1 loss. Later we played North Platte and lost 5-0, and we’re thinking, ‘Oh, my gosh.’”
Following losses in two of its first three games, the only place to go was up, Wilson said. With wins against Elkhorn, Omaha Westside and Lincoln East in the past week, the Knights are on their way.
“After our start,” Wilson said, “we wouldn’t have expected that.”
Reach Brent C. Wagner at 473-7435 or bwagner@journalstar.com.
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