BAY ST. LOUIS – For the last two years, Sumrall’s soccer program has pushed itself to greater heights.
Although the Bobcats fell short in their first-ever South State title game, Sumrall pushed Bay High, the two-time defending state champions, to the brink as they fell short 3-2 in overtime on Tuesday night.
“I tip my hat to them,” Sumrall coach Jared Lee said. “They are an excellent program.
“I thought tonight we matched up so well, and I think it shows the direction that our program is going in that we are taking them to the wire with a man down.”
Despite losing star player Wyatt Jones in the second half, Sumrall was never overwhelmed by Bay High (21-3-1).
Emotions ran high with the game tied at 1-1, and yellow cards began to fly. Jones fell victim to the refs trying to keep the game civil after he made a sliding tackle and was then given a red card.
“That was massive,” Lee said. “The crew is an excellent crew. They are experienced, and I thought they did well, but we talked about how that was a little harsh. I think that was his first foul in the game. The ref said it was too dangerous of a tackle and that’s where we disagreed a little bit. That changed everything for us. Will (Cronin) was man-marking a forward player, and we had to drop down one of the strikers down into the midfield, and that took that away.”
Bay High then took a 2-1 lead in the 67th minute, but Sumrall never backed down. Just two minutes later, Cronin scored a header from a throw-in, which eventually forced overtime. However, the loss of Jones drastically changed Sumrall’s game plan.
Earlier in the first half, the two teams each traded three shots on goal, with the Tigers netting one on a well-placed cross in the 19th minute to take a 1-0 lead by the end of the first half.
“That first half is kind of what we expected,” Lee said. “We knew that they were going to work hard, and we knew that we had to match that. It was going to be a game of chances and taking those chances.
“We talked about coming into this game trying to defend well, and transition and attack well and keep the numbers forward. That can be a scary thing in soccer because if you lose the ball, then you are getting counterattacked.”
Later, Sumrall got on the board in the second half after Boston Trussell scored on a penalty kick in the 64th minute.
The Bobcats made it a point to try and stop Bay High’s Aiden Boudro, who was named Mississippi’s Gatorade Player of the Year last season. However, Sumrall’s success at keeping Boudro at bay was derailed by Jones’ exit.
“We made sure to have our attention on Aiden Boudro,” Lee said. “I thought Will Cronin did a good job of taking time and space away for him to have the ball.
“When Wyatt was gone, our other striker had to drop down to the midfield and help out with defending and try to be an outlet for us as well.”
After Jones was forced to exit the game, Bay High dominated the time of possession, which led to the Tigers’ goal in overtime. Bay High capitalized on that chaos and netted the critical goal.
“Their midfield found so many more passes after we had to make that transition,” Lee said. “I told Will to stop man-marking because we were not matching up man for man. As soon as we got the tie back, I got him back on Boudro to hold him off and keep them from scoring. It was a tricky situation for us. Without the extra striker, it took that all away.
“We knew that we wanted to attack in overtime, but we had to defend and try to get to PKs if we could.”
Looking ahead, Sumrall graduates seven players and loses four everyday starters from a team that finished the year 18-7-3.
“A lot of (the seniors) are along our defensive spine,” Lee said. “We are going to lose a bit of age, wisdom, maturity and athleticism in the back, but we have so much talent in those positions. Those young kids who are going to be sophomores will have big shoes to fill. I’m hopeful through example and watching and learning that they are going to replace and (help) put together a long playoff run soon.”
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