Lawrence High seniors Sean Simmons, left, and Sam Wessels have shared the duties that go along with guarding the net for the LHS boys soccer team this season. Instead of picking one starter and having the other serve as his backup, LHS coach Matt Anderson has allowed his goalies to play one half each during the Lions' first 10 games of the season.

Last week, late in a 2-0 victory against Topeka High, the Lawrence High boys soccer team faced what certainly would have been a major dilemma for any other team.

As the Trojans charged the net, looking to cut the Lions’ lead to 2-1, senior goalkeeper Sam Wessels attacked the ball and took out the THS forward in the process.

Wessels was given a yellow card for the aggressive tackle and was forced to leave the field.

No problem. Enter first-half starter Sean Simmons for the penalty kick.

“As soon as it happened, there was no panic,” LHS coach Matt Anderson said. “It was just like, ‘Sean, go get it.'”

Simmons did, stopping the penalty kick to preserve the shutout. No one on the LHS sideline was surprised.

All season the Lions have relied on two goalkeepers to man the net, a tactic Anderson admits is rare, but one he says he would not change for anything.

“I don’t remember baseball having a copyright on that,” Anderson said of using a starter and a reliever. “I have two pretty good keepers and I have no problem using both of them.”

Fortunately for Anderson, neither do Wessels and Simmons. In fact, they’ve grown to prefer it.

“We’re both seniors, and I think we both deserve to play,” said Simmons, the Lions’ full-time starter a year ago. “It seems pretty fair.”

The idea was born out of competition. This is Anderson’s first season with the LHS boys team, and instead of handing the starting goalkeeper job to one or the other based on past performances, the new LHS coach decided to give both players a chance to audition on the field.

Simmons plays one half, Wessels the other. Sometimes it’s Simmons who plays the first half and sits during the second half. Other times Wessels leads things off.

“It just kind of goes by feel and by how they’ve practiced,” Anderson said.

After switching halves 10 times this season, both players have discovered they would not want it any other way. In fact, Simmons said sharing the net was something he and Wessels assumed would happen as early as tryouts.

“It’s more common to switch games,” Wessels said. “But I really like it. It helps because you know you’ve got a certain amount of time that you’re going to play so you can go all out. Against Olathe North, at halftime, I was dead tired. I was dead on my feet.”

The unusual lineup does not come without its share of challenges. For starters, the LHS defense has to adjust to a different keeper twice a game.

In addition, Simmons and Wessels have different voices and different ways of directing the LHS defense during games.

Simmons said clear communication was a strength for both goalies. Wessels said it was for him because he yells constantly.

“I shout out everything,” he said.

The bigger challenges are for the goalies themselves, who must remain sharp before, during and after their time on the field. But even that has become something both keepers have learned to adapt to.

“For me, when I see a shot and I’m on the sideline, I feel myself wanting to move to stop it,” Wessels said.

Added Simmons, “There’s a lot of adrenaline you feel when you’re on the field and it’s hard to turn that off. But it’s nice to get a break.”

By now, both the LHS net-minders and their teammates have reached a point where making those kinds of adjustments is second nature. That brings a sigh of relief from Anderson.

“That is something our coaching staff talked about,” Anderson said of how playing both players would impact the team. “But it’s just nice to have them both there. They’re very supportive of each other and really just want to do whatever they can to help the team win.”

Although Anderson said he was happy that the experiment has worked well so far, he declared that it was not something he planned to force into action in the future.

“It has very little to do with me,” Anderson said. “I didn’t train them, they just fell in my lap and have done a great job with what we’ve asked them to do.

“I know it’s rare,” he added. “And it’s not exactly something I’m going to try to do every year.”

Simmons and Wessels have done their part to ensure he won’t have to, taking time out of their own practice routines to work with the LHS junior varsity and C-team goalies.

“They started that on their own,” Anderson said. “They know those other goalies are the future of the program, and it’s important to them to leave us in good shape.”