Oct. 26, 2019

By Fred Liggett
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When taking the soccer field for a game all teams have the same goal and that is outscore their opponent for a win. For the 2019 Lee’s Summit Tigers that has been an easy chore thanks to a stifling defense that has recorded 11 shutouts in the team’s 14 wins so far this season.

The double figure shutout total has attracted a lot of attention including from FOX4 Sports as the station honored the Tigers on Oct. 10 as their “team of week”. The station aired a feature on the team on the Sunday night sports segment on Oct. 13. Tigers Head Soccer Coach Dave Wiebenga said of FOX4 visiting his team during a practice to hand out the award “It’s a great honor”. Wiebenga continued “Team goes to work every day, have a goal they want to accomplish, they are stepping up”

Being on television and receiving the award hasn’t slowed the Tigers one bit as they continue to perform well with the post-season just around the corner. Wiebenga says the results are due to “a total team effort”, the team really started to gel in June”. Coach Wiebenga was quick to credit his “Veterans from last year’s state experience”. The young members of the team got a lot of credit also as Wiebenga states “sophomores have played and made the most of their opportunities”.

Having a perfect record also means the Tigers have had success against their nearby rivals. The Tigers beat Lee’s Summit North 2-1 on Friday, Oct. 18 in an afternoon game played before a Tigers football game that night at 7 p.m. The winning effort was helped by a single goal scored in each half. Hunter McGuire got the Tigers on the board in the first while Timmy Smith scored the game winner with 5:12 left in the match. A big crowd came out for the afternoon match as the event served as the Siege the Cure game for the Tigers where fans were encouraged to bring canned goods to the game to benefit Lee’s Summit Social Services. Seeing so many fans at the game was great to see for both teams as the rivalry game was originally scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 10 but was moved back eight days due to severe weather in the area.

The Tigers got back to work earlier this week when they beat Truman at home 6-1 on Monday, Oct. 21. Next home match for the Tigers is on Wednesday, Oct. 30 when they host Liberty North. The post-season is coming up fast for all area teams including Lee’s Summit who will be hosting the Missouri Class 4, District 13 tournament starting on Monday, Nov. 4. Also in the four team field is Blue Springs, Blue Springs South and Lee’s Summit North.

Coach Wiebenga says of district 13 “it’s a tough district”. Wiebenga adds “Each team is picking off each other”. The Tigers have played both LS North and Blue Springs South but not the Blue Springs Wildcats. Wiebenga says of Blue Springs “Anticipate they are tough as well”. The two night district tournament begins on Nov. 4 with Lee’s Summit playing at 5 p.m., LS North follows at 7 p.m. The championship match is set for 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 7. As the regular season draws to an end the Tigers will continue to strive for another shutout win as part of a record breaking year for the team.