By Max Goodwin
The high school sports playoffs are fast approaching for the fall season. As teams try to end the regular season on a positive note and move into the playoffs with some momentum, one of south Kansas City’s soccer teams has proved they are worth making it out to see a game, even if they have flown under the radar.
The Center Yellowjackets have a tough mentality and a cohesive group of upperclassmen who have played together for years, developing chemistry that helps create shots on goal.
Senior Rex Taylor has been the face of the team, scoring 25 goals through the first 11 games of the season. Taylor was named the KC athlete of the week by a local television station earlier this season.
A few other seniors, including Babacar Balde, Dixon Alvarez, and Liam Lillis, are the different pieces that make up the core of the Yellowjackets’ starting lineup on the soccer pitch.
Lillis has two younger brothers on the team, both freshmen, Mason and Gavin. They are just one of a few sets of brothers within the Center program. There’s also senior Omar and junior Ali Nemeh. Senior Ulises Ruiz Lopez and junior Joshio Ruiz Lopez. Then there are the sophomores, Jayden and Justin Lobo.
So many sets of brothers might be the secret to how Center communicates so well on the field. Their passing creativity and offensive explosiveness were on display in a recent October matchup against cross-town rival Grandview. After giving up an early goal and playing most of the match looking to climb back, it appeared Grandview had found a way to stop Rex Taylor and keep Center off the score sheet.
But halfway through the second half, Center began to open up the field with passing lanes and overwhelm Grandview with a barrage of shots. By the time the final buzzer sounded, Center had turned the game into a 3-1 victory with all three goals coming in the final 20 minutes.
Babacar Balde was in a perfect position as Center played a free kick into the box. Balde got his head to the ball and sent it into the back of the net to tie the game.
With less than five minutes left in the game and a 1-1 score, Center was attacking with pressure to pull out a comeback win from a hard-fought rivalry game against Grandview. The Yellowjackets had the chance to extend their six-game winning streak if they could find a goal.
A Center defender sent a pass from the right side of the field across midfield toward the Center. Forward Dixon Alvarez, a senior captain, didn’t think the pass was for him, but there was nobody else closer than him. He felt the urgency of the moment and knew how badly his team needed the next goal.
“We always feel urgency,” Dixon said. “We want to go that extra mile because everybody works hard.”
Alvarez gained position on his Grandview opponent and made it to the ball with an open path ahead of him. He took several dribbles and, just as the goalkeeper came out to meet him, Alvarez skipped a shot past him from right to left that snuck into the left corner of the goal to give Center a 2-1 lead with just a few minutes left.
In the final seconds of the game, Rex Taylor got free and scored his 26th goal of the season to make the final score, 3-1, official. The win was a testament to how Center has played all season, with a resilient attitude and focused communication. It raised their record to 10-2 on the season. Head Coach Steve Mattson was thrilled with the result.
“That was a lot of grit to come back on that, just trying to dig deep, a lot of heart,” Mattson said. “And they put in the work in the second half, and got one, got two, and that third one was just icing on the cake.”
The comeback in the rivalry game may have taken too much out of the Yellowjackets, as they have since dropped to 12-4 with losses to Pleasant Hill, East Christian, and Cristo Rey.
Center’s place in the playoffs for Class 2 District 7 is nearly locked in with two games remaining. If the season ended today, Center would be tied for first seed in their district and get a first-round matchup with Paseo. If they can manage to outplay Pleasant Hill in the last few games of the regular season, a first-round bye is still possible.