Not content with a hat trick, John Manga scored a grand slam of goals to lift Henry Clay to a 4-3 victory over host Lafayette in Wednesday night's Fayette County iHigh Soccer Frenzy.
In the opener, Ryle edged Manual 2-1 in a shootout.
No. 7 Henry Clay 4, No. 12 Lafayette 3: "I told the guys yesterday, 'this game I'm taking very personal from last year (because) we tied them,'" Manga said. "And I got a red card at the end, so I had a little chip on my shoulder for this. ... Come back next year and just show how I can play, and this is what I do best — score goals."
Henry Clay also won its season opener Monday, 4-3 over Ryle.
Said Tim Bernardi, coach of the defending state champions: "I thought it was a fairly even match. ... John Manga kind of took it over a little bit, got some much-needed goals for us. Hats off to Lafayette, and I thought my team played well. We still have some things to work on but we've pulled out some tough victories in our first two games, so it's always exciting to see the character of a team like that."
Manga, who has orally committed to play college ball for Cincinnati, spotted Henry Clay a 1-0 lead at halftime.
Manga received a pass on the left wing, broke in and powered a shot inside the near post 14:15 into the match.
Lafayette tied 3½ minutes into the second half. Rafael Vasquez did the honors, chipping in a direct kick from about 30 yards out on the far right side.
The Generals, playing their season opener, took the lead with 21:42 left.
Lafayette's Ryan Oppegard threaded a pass to Daghain Wood, who had just enough daylight to turn and shoot from near the penalty mark.
Manga notched the equalizer with 14:51 left, running in for a chip shot just inside the 18-yard line.
Manga, with magnificent individual effort, did it again with 12:24 left. This time, he turned in tight quarters about 25 yards out, dribbled across the top of the 18 and laced a shot into the low left corner.
A Lafayette misplay let Manga loose for a clinching breakaway with 8:18 to play.
Oppegard converted a penalty kick with 32 seconds left.
"John Manga is a tough kid to defend and he's a really good player, one of the best in the state," Lafayette Coach Chris Grimm said. "But we did a lot of good things. We really had them on the ropes there for a little while, and I'm really proud of my guys. This is a game we can build off for sure. ... It's a good start, even though we didn't win."
No. 14 Ryle 2, No. 17 Manual 1 (SO): Tyler Tillingham's goal in the seventh round of a shootout gave Ryle the win in the opener.
Tyler Sciarra gave Ryle a 1-0 halftime lead.
Richard Ballard countered in the second half.
From regulation, the teams went directly to penalty kicks. Both teams started out 5-for-5 but, in the sixth round, goalkeepers Chris Froschauer of Ryle and Ian Johnson of Manual made diving saves.
Before Tillingham shot, Manual's Kyndl Woodlee fired wide left.
Fayette County iHigh Soccer Frenzy at Lafayette
Ryle 2, duPont Manual 1 (shootout)
Goals — R: Tyler Sciarra; M: Richard Ballard.
Goalkeepers — M: Ian Johnson; R: Chris Froschauer.
Records — Manual 0-1; Ryle 1-1.
Henry Clay 4, Lafayette 3
Goals — HC: John Manga 4; L: Rafael Vasquez, Daghain Wood, Ryan Oppegard.
Goalkeepers — HC: John Paul Jikang; L: Curtis Daniel.
Records — Henry Clay 2-0; Lafayette 0-1.
