Van Horn grad sparks Blazers to upset

Yacine Hamchaoui is starting to become an offensive threat for the Metropolitan Community College-Blue River men’s soccer team.
And he picked an opportune time to provide the Trail Blazers with a pair of goals.
Hamchaoui, the Van Horn graduate who set the state high school season scoring record last year, scored a pair of goals in the second half as the Trail Blazers stunned area power Johnson County (Kan.) Community College, the 10th-ranked junior college team in the nation, with a 3-0 victory Wednesday afternoon.
“This is a huge win for our program,” Blue River coach Dave Owens said. “Johnson County is probably the marquee program in our area, so to get a win over them is something special.”
Hamchaoui made it possible when he dove to head in a crossing pass from Michael Brennan in the 60th minute. He made it 2-0 10 minutes later when he gathered a rebound off a shot by Fort Osage High School graduate Bryan Henny and beat the Johnson County goalkeeper.
“That first goal, well, he’s only about 5-(foot)-4, so for him to win a header is a great thing,” Owens said of Hamchaoui, who now has nine goals and five assists in his freshman season. “And the second goal just showed his tenacity around the net.”
A late goal by Blake Wahlbrink sealed the win and improved the Trail Blazers to 9-5-1 overall.
After a 1-0 loss to St. Louis Community College-Meramec and a 3-2 setback to Cloud County (Kan.) Community College, the Trail Blazers improved to 4-3 in Region 16 play with a 4-1 victory over St. Louis Community College-Forest Park last Saturday.
Raytown High School graduate Steven Long sparked Blue River against Forest Park, scoring a goal and assisting on two others.
Blue Springs South High School graduate Kyle Young, David Sievers and Brennan also scored in the victory over Forest Park.
The win not only improved the Blazers to 4-3 in Region 16 play, but clinched a top-four league finish for Blue River for the second straight season.
That assures the Trail Blazers of playing host to a Region 16 home quarterfinal game on Oct. 27.