'Winning when the chips are down': T-Birds soccer wants to add grit and toughness. Team is 6-1 to start season.

Nic Simons, in his first year as head coach of the Shawnee Heights boys soccer, emphasized winning ugly to his team Tuesday.

“As much as I say that, it’s not a criticism,” said Simons. “I tell them all the time, when you can find ways to win, whether it’s winning ugly or not playing your best soccer, that’s the mark of a solid team."

The T-Birds won 1-0 over the De Soto Wildcats, 4-3-1 (2-1), on Tuesday, keeping Shawnee Heights, 6-1 (4-0), atop the United Conference Standings

“They’ve found ways to adjust and put it away in overtime or the last minute," Simons said. "This team has a penchant for winning when the chips are down.”

Taking the reigns

After a 12-4 finish last year that saw the T-Birds finish third in the state in 5A, the team graduated five seniors but returned the majority of their starters.

In addition to replacing four starters, Simons took over as head coach for Steve Loy. Loy joined the Topeka Soccer Club as director of coaching in April after leading the T-Birds to back-to-back state tournament appearances

“It’s a humbling opportunity,” said Simons, who was an assistant for Loy before taking over as head coach last spring. “I’m thankful every day I get to spend the time with the kids and shape these guys into not only good soccer players, but young men, too.

“It is a pretty surreal experience taking over the boys program for the school in which I played.”

It’s the first high school head coaching job for Simons, who has coached clubs locally in Topeka and been coaching for more than 15 years.

Simons calls Loy his mentor, even before becoming an assistant for him, and attributes much of his success to Loy’s philosophies.

One of the things he wants to keep in place is Loy’s attitude of playing every game like it’s your last.

“That was his philosophy and I think it paid off,” Simons said. “Going to back-to-back state appearances was all the proof we needed.”

At the same time, Simons wants to put his own stamp on the program. One of the things he wants to see is more grit and toughness.

Finding ways to win

Junior midfielder Jordan Garvin, an All-City, All-League and 2nd Team All-State player, was the leading scorer on the team last year and one of the top goal scorers in the city.

Garvin missed the team’s first five games but returned to score the game winner against Lansing. Now, another starter is out due to quarantine.

“Our score sheets don’t look like dominating performances,” said Simons, with one goal wins in four of their seven games. “When you take (Jordan’s) 20 goals off a team, that’s significant. I think that played into our loss against Rural.

"In many ways we weren’t fighting at full strength.”

The T-Birds have only dropped the season opener to powerhouse Washburn Rural.

“(It’s been an) adversity-filled first quarter of season,” said Simons. “This week, we’ll be halfway done. (It’s) good that many of these guys had varsity experience, either started or had minutes returning. (It) helped to get us over the hump."

Simons said the team had some young guys step up, including sophomore forward Jack Martin, who has five goals. That's tied for first on the team.

Martin saw some varsity time last year. Simons said the biggest growth he’s seen in Martin is his ability work through things that might’ve frustrated him last year. Now, Simons said Martin takes events in stride and keeps a clear mind.

Another is junior midfielder Isaac Wilson, also with five goals, who has moved into more of an attacking role in the midfield after playing a more defensive role last year.

This offseason, Wilson and Simons talked over the summer about Wilson stepping into a different role.

Simons said he couldn’t be more pleased with the results and said Wilson has put the game on his back when the team was struggling, including the game winner in overtime against Topeka.

“One of my questions, can we handle some adversity vs. what my expectations were early on?” said Simons. “Initially, we’ve passed the test.”

T-Birds win over the Wildcats

A scoreless first half saw the T-Birds have three shots on goal to the Wildcats one while the Wildcats had two corner kicks to the T-Birds one.

Simons recognized a familiar pattern from other games this season.

“A similar song and dance to what we’ve done the past few weeks, which is we will generate opportunities and not cap them off,” said Simons. “I told the guys, ‘We have to be more opportunistic in the last 20 yards of the field,’”

In the second half, they were just that.

After the Wildcats came out strong early in the second half, it was the opportunistic T-Birds who scored in the 55th minute on a corner kick that bounced around to junior midfielder Jesus Cardona.

Cardona, inside the six-yard box, placed it perfectly between the keeper and post defender to give the T-Birds the 1-0 lead that would ultimately be the final.

“That grit and adversity we’ve faced?” said Simons. “The boys have done a really good job of responding. That a huge testament to who they are and their mental toughness, we’re starting to see that grit show though.

"Ultimately, that will bode well for later in the season when we’re tired mentally, and the legs are tired physically, in the post season. We’re getting there. We're not there yet and I think the boys would say that, too.”

Seth Kinker can be reached at skinker@gannett.com or 417-312-1300. Find him on Twitter @sethkinker.