BAY ST. LOUIS – A vicious 1-2 punch in the opening minutes of play proved to be too much for the Sacred Heart boys to overcome.
St. Stanislaus scored two goals in the first four minutes of the game, and made them stand up, defeating the Crusaders 2-1 in the Class I South State championship soccer game Tuesday night at Rockachaw Stadium.
The Rockachaws (16-3-2) will play for their 13th state title Friday against defending state champion St. Andrew’s. Sacred Heart (14-4-2) was denied in defense of its South State championship from a year ago.
“To be honest, the solutions were there” said Crusader coach Kevin Treminio. “At times, we just had a mentality of losing our heads, and just giving the ball away.
“If you look at the first goal, it’s a giveaway from us. The second is a giveaway that leads to a corner. That’s a goal. From then on, coming back from that is hard.. But I’m proud of the kids. They gave it their everything and did everything I asked.”
Indeed, those mistakes were brutal, and St. Stanislaus was unforgiving in exploiting them.
With just over a minute gone in the game, Rockachaw junior Oren Doxey intercepted a pass in the back third of the field, and had noting but grass between him and the Crusader goal.
Doxey caught Sacred Heart senior goalkeeper Hayes Burks out of position and rifled a shot from 15 yards out into the lower right side of the net for a 1-0 lead.
Two minutes later, another giveaway led to a corner kick from the left side, and senior Abram Doxey curled the kick into the upper right corner of the goal, just over Burks’ outstretched hands.
“It was probably my positioning,” said Burks. “I was too far forward in the goal. Lack of experience. This was my first year in goal, and sometimes I didn’t know what I was doing back there.
“I tried my best and gave it everything I had.”
That was just the start of an offensive clinic by St. Stanislaus in the first half. The Rockachaws put tremendous pressure on the Crusaders, completely disrupting the Sacred Heart defense.
St. Stanislaus had 13 shots in the first half, and seven were on goal, including the two goals. More importantly, the Rockachaws kept the ball away from the Crusaders, and denied them good opportunities.
Sacred Heart only had one shot in the first 25 minutes of play before freshman Elliott Boyette got free for a good look in the 28 minute.
“I started realizing that we could still win,” said Boyette. “We just had to quit giving up those silly mistakes in the back. Once we cleaned that up, we gave ourselves a chance.
“I feel like we were the better team overall for the majority of the game, but it’s hard to come back from two goalsdown.”
The Crusaders finally managed to put some offense together late in the period, getting a pair of shots on frame from freshman Sam McKee in the 38th minute and from Boyette in the 40th minute.
That momentum carried over into the second half, as Sacred Heart put four shots on goal in the first 12 minutes of the period. Part of it was a renewed commitment to push the ball forward.
“I would agree with that,” said Treminio. “And here’s the thing. There was no change in the plan at all. It was just get your heads screwed back on , because the plan was working; it’s just at times, you can’t finish.”
But St. Stanislaus junior keeper Finn Williford was up to the challenge, and the Rockachaws picked up their offensive intensity in the middle part of the second half.
In all, St. Stanislaus had 14 total shots in the second half, totaling 27 for the game, but only two were on target.
The Rockachaws’ best chance to increase their lead came in the 59th minute, when Oren Doxey got free for a breakaway and an open look that Burks made a diving save to knock the ball away and keep the score 2-0.
With time running out on the game, and on their season, the Crusaders summoned a big finishing push that got them back in the game.
“That’s the sport,” said Treminio. “It’s the highest highs and the lowest lows. Another thing was our legs. We probably needed an extra day of rest. But it is what it is.”
Boyette made a dash down the left side and produced Sacred Heart’s best chance up to that point, with Williford knocking the ball away beyond the back line, resulting in a corner kick in the 76th minute.
The kick failed to net a scoring chance, but it did force a foul deep in the offensive zone, and that set up Sacred Heart for their goal in the 78th minute.
Senior Mateo Rouhbakhsh sent the free kick into a crowd in the 18-yard box, sophomore Grayson Smith got a head on the ball, feeding dophomore Austin Nguyen, who was open in front of the net and he slammed the ball into the net for the score.
“I just knew I had to make something happen for the team, and just get it done,” said Nguyen. “I honestly didn’t see who got a foot on it. There was a lot going on. I just saw the ball at my feet and it went in.”
The Crusaders got two more shots and another corner kick in the remaining time, but St. Stanislaus was able to keep Sacred Heart from any combinations and held on for the victory.
Although the disappointment was keen, Sacred Heart only loses three seniors, and started seven players who were either freshmen or sophomores.
“We just have to keep our momentum, keep our heads up,” said Nguyen. “Just move on and get ready for next year.”
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