by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
With Giovanni Calderon leading the way, nine Kansas City Kansas Community College sophomores closed their regular season home soccer careers with a 6-0 blanking of Coffeyville Tuesday.
The win put the Blue Devils (8-3) in position to wrap up a home playoff berth when they close out Jayhawk Conference play Tuesday at Johnson County at 4 p.m. The win also kept KCKCC’s hopes alive for a conference title.
Boasting a 6-3 record, the Blue Devils lead the conference with 18 points, two more than Neosho and Cowley County. However, Neosho (5-1-1) has three games remaining and Cowley (5-3-1) one. Wins are worth three points, ties one.
A sophomore midfielder from Harmon, Giovanni Calderon scored four goals, believed to be the most in KCKCC history. The second of the four goals came on an assist from Calderon’s twin brother, Jesse Calderon. Reed Axthelm, a freshman from Riverton, Wyoming, scored the other two KCKCC goals.
Calderon put the Blue Devils in front 1-0 in the first four minutes on an assist from freshman Jackson Jones and Axthelm’s first goal 19 minutes into the game on a pass from sophomore Guilherme Grave gave KCKCC a 2-0 halftime lead,
Scoring in the first minute of the second half, Calderon broke the game open with three straight goals on assists from his brother and freshmen Gustavo Palmeiri and Bruno Rovares. Axthelm then closed out the scoring on a pass from freshman Keevin Dyke just moments after Calderon’s final goal.
The shutout was the first for sophomore goalkeeper Youssef Gadelkerim, who had saves on five shots on goal. Meanwhile, the Blue Devils launched 15 shots.
“A solid performance, a great way for the sophomores to close out their regular home season,” assistant coach Burke Slusher said. “We completely controlled the game with possession about 80 percent of the game.”
In addition to the Calderon twins, other sophomores playing their home finale were Emmanuel Hernandez, Leonardo DaSilva, Pa Ousman Jobe, Brajan Huyke, Ricardo Angelo, Guilherme Grave and Youssef Gadelkerim.