Sheridan scores in a flurry to beat East
May 13—CHEYENNE — It didn't take Sheridan long to score during Thursday night's Class 4A East Conference tournament matchup with Cheyenne East.
The Broncs broke through in the 10th minute, and there was no slowing them after that during an 8-2 victory that ended East's season.
"This match might be a microcosm of all the different things that went wrong for us this year," East coach Ryan Cameron said. "It all kind of came to a head in one half. Playing against the wind to start is really, really tough and Sheridan took advantage of that.
"Those guys deserve a lot of credit for putting the ball away like they did early. They made us fight from behind."
Frank Sinclair gave Sheridan the lead in the 10th minute when he bent a right-footed direct kick from 27 yards out around East's wall and into the right side of the goal. In the 12th, junior Colson Coon struck a righty shot off a Thunderbirds' defender and into the goal from inside the penalty area.
Reed Rabon scored the eventual game-winner when he carried the ball down the right side of the field and got off a hard shot before an East defender challenged him for a 3-0 lead in the 14th.
Sinclair added his second goal in the 26th, and Dane Steel hit a direct kick from nearly 30 yards out in the 39th for a 5-0 halftime lead.
"We fought hard the whole game, but it just got away from us," East junior Brenden Bohlmann said. "We had a belief that we could come back in the second half, but we couldn't. This was a tough way to end our season."
Freshman Hunter Sallee got East on the scoreboard in the 53rd minute when his direct kick from 50 yards out sailed between Sheridan goalkeeper Chris Larson and the crossbar.
The momentum was short-lived, however, as Sinclair slipped a pass between East defenders from the end line onto Rabon's feet. Rabon drove the ball past East backup goalkeeper Joseph Wheeler for a 6-1 advantage.
The lead moved to 7-1 on an own goal in the 64th, and Rabon added his third goal of the day when a throw-in left him alone behind East's defense in the 75th.
Bohlmann netted East's final goal on a penalty kick in the 76th.
"The result is, obviously, not what we'd like, but our kids did a great job of continuing to battle," Cameron said. "There wasn't much to believe in during the second half, but they kept going. It would have been easy to stop and not keep battling when the outcome seemed in hand. That's a proud moment as a coach."
SHERIDAN 8, EAST 2
Halftime: 5-0.
Goals: Sheridan, Sinclair (direct kick), 10. Sheridan, C. Coon, 12. Sheridan, Rabon, 14. Sheridan, Sinclair, 26. Sheridan, D. Steel (direct kick), 39. East, Sallee (direct kick), 53. Sheridan, Rabon (Sinclair), 59. Sheridan, own goal, 64. Sheridan, Rabon, 75. East, Br. Bohlmann (penalty kick), 76.
Shots: East 9, Sheridan 21. Shots on goal: East 5, Sheridan 18. Saves: East 10 (Fisbeck 1, Wheeler 8, Ward 1); Sheridan 3 (Chr. Larson).
Corner kicks: East 3, Sheridan 6. Offsides: East 2, Sheridan 2. Fouls: East 6, Sheridan 7.
Jeremiah Johnke is the WyoSports editor. He can be reached at jjohnke@wyosports.net or 307-633-3137. Follow him on Twitter at @jjohnke.
