Shawnee Mission West had a tough battle against the Raiders of Shawnee Mission South Tuesday night.

West got going early on with a shot on goal in the first couple of minutes from senior midfielder, Martin Higgins. Midway through the first half, SM South got a deflection in the middle of the box, and cleaned it up with a goal from junior midfielder, Brandon Maxey. Maxey had three shots in the game, two on goal. About ten minutes later, South struck again, with a cross from the left side from senior forward Marcelo Regis, deflecting straight to the senior leading scorer, Calvin Freeman, who put it in. South was up 2-0 with ten minutes to play in the first half. South’s Regis was injured minutes after this and didn’t return.

With just under four minutes to play in the half, SMW’s Martin Higgins was tripped while dribbling in the box and West received a penalty kick. Senior defender, Chris Sharp, knocked it in on the right side to cut the deficit to 2-1 at halftime.

It was a very eventful second half at Westridge. Just over a minute into the half, senior forward Parker Ling had a shot on goal saved by SMW keeper Cristo Ramirez, who started the second half for Michael Hall. Early in the second half, West’s Crosson Saisi received a yellow card and had to come out for five minutes. Seconds later, South had a very good chance, as senior forward, Massi Giobbi, had a header on goal, but saved by Ramirez.

Miscommunication led to goal number three for the Raiders, as a pass backwards was stolen by Calvin Freeman and he put in the the right corner for his second goal of the game. There was still over 24 minutes remaining to play.

SMW junior defender Heliot Garcia was injured inside his own box just after South’s third goal, and had to be helped off the field. He never returned.

The referee returned the favor of the yellow card, offering SM South’s Kyle Belk a yellow with 15 minutes to play. Both teams had one now. Giobbi had another chance later for South, but missed a header wide right off a free kick from senior midfielder Alex Stockler.

In the last ten minutes, West had its chances. With just over six minutes to play, junior midfielder Remy Dujakovich had a pass straight back in the box to senior midfielder Corbin Warner, who drilled it in the upper left corner, but it was blocked and hit the post, leading to a West corner kick. Two more chances arose for the Vikings. A cross from senior midfielder, Jonathan Shipp, to Martin Higgins was volleyed in the air, but the shot was wide left. Just a minute later, a cross from Corbin Warner to senior forward Mario Cruz was headed and hit the crossbar and was cleared out by the Raiders. SM South had defeated the Vikings 3-1.

SM South outshot SM West 12-11 Tuesday night. They had more shots on goal than West, too, outnumbering them 8-3. SM West’s Martin Higgins had four shots (one on goal), while Chris Sharp and Mario Cruz both recorded two shots. Three players for SM South had three shots; Brandon Maxey, Massi Giobbi, and Calvin Freeman. All three of Freeman’s shots were on goal, and he scored on two of them.

SM West plays again tomorrow night (Thursday, Sep. 26) at Lawrence in Lawrence, KS at 7 PM.