Blue River soccer takes home opener

The Metropolitan Community College-Blue River men’s soccer team had a rough start to the season.
But Sunday’s victory made it a little better.
The Trail Blazers fell 3-1 to host Kansas City Kansas Community College on Friday but rebounded for a 7-3 rout of Hesston (Kan.) Community College in their home opener Sunday.
“It was a nice way to bounce back,” Blue River coach Dave Owens said. “We got up 6-0 and just kind of went from there.”
Van Horn High School graduate Yacine Hamchaoui scored two goals and Raytown graduate Steven Long had two goals and an assist to lift Blue River past Hesston.
“Yacine said, ‘Hey, Coach, I’m going to get four goals today!’” Owens said. “But I think he was like a golfer who tries to swing too hard. Maybe he was trying to hit the ball so hard that he lost a little bit of accuracy.
“But he had a great game. He got two of our first three goals and that kind of sent us on our way.”
Blue Springs South graduate Zane Christenson added a goal and two assists, while Michael Brennan and Sam Braverman, a transfer from Missouri Southern State University, added a goal apiece.
In Friday’s game, Hamchaoui scored the Trail Blazers’ lone goal.
“They got us down two goals early, but we recovered and came back and did well in the second half,” Owens said of the loss to KCK. “We were disappointed that we weren’t able to finish in that game.
BLUE RIVER WOMEN PREVAIL: The Blue River women’s team also downed Hesston 4-2 in its season opener, rallying from a 1-0 halftime deficit.
Aria Witherall, a graduate of Center Place Restoration School in Independence, scored a goal along with Rachel Thiel and Anna Tubbs to lead the Trail Blazers to the home win. Cese Perez also scored for Blue River, which outshot Hesston 40-4.