At press time, Excelsior Springs soccer coach Brett McKenzie and his varsity boys squad were preparing to face a Missouri Highway 92 rival – less than a week after first facing that rival.

The Tigers had a meeting slated with Kearney for Thursday at Tiger Stadium. On Sept. 12, the schools met in Excelsior Springs’ annual tournament, with the Tigers winning 4-1.

A 3-0 first half propelled Excelsior Springs to the win. Tyler Wartner scored the opening goal in the 11th minute by drilling in a penalty kick.

According to McKenzie, there are two keys to finishing a penalty kick: choosing a corner to shoot and hitting the ball with assurance.

“If you hit a great ball to the corner where you want to put it, it’s going to take a lot from the goalkeeper to get it,” he said. “It’s when you hesitate or when you try to play mind games sometimes that you end up making a mistake.”

The corner Wartner picked was on his right. Having practiced kicking to his left and his right, he sensed his right side would…