By Jordan Neal
Calvin Gruber celebrates with his teammates after scoring one of his three goals on Tuesday night.
Memorable Moments Photography
The Aledo Bearcats soccer team is advancing to the regional semifinals after beating Denton in a dramatic shootout on March 19 before blowing out Joshua on March 24.
The Bearcats beat the Broncos 2-2 (4-3) in a dramatic shootout in the bi-district round, but then had a much easier time against the Owls in the area round, winning 6-0.
Aledo came into the playoffs with an 18-3-2 record, but had blown through district with an 11-0-1 record, outscoring opponents 52-2 during the stretch.
The last time the Bearcats had given up multiple goals in a game was back in early January against this same Denton team at a tournament where they had lost 4-0. Three months later, this was a different Aledo team.
The first half was a scoreless draw as both teams had chances that came up empty. Early in the second half, the Bearcats struck first. Harrison Kear decided to let it rip from about 40 yards out and the ball went right over the keeper’s head for the first goal of the game in the 50th minute to give Aledo the lead.
The Bearcats defense was doing well as Denton could not a clean shot on goal for most of the game besides an offsides call that brought back a goal, but it took a hit when defender Grant Gartman, who went down several times throughout the match, finally was held on the bench late in the game.
This reshuffling of Aledo’s defense eventually led to the Broncos tying the score in the 70th minute on a header off a set piece. Regulation ended with a 1-1 draw and it went into two 10-minute overtime periods.
The Bearcats started off the overtime period great three minutes into the extra period. Off a rebound from the keeper, Trapper Davis was able to put the ball in the back of the net from an awkward angle, putting Aledo up 2-1.
This was no golden goal situation as the match went on despite some players’ confusion that the match ended with the goal.
Early in the second overtime period, Denton on a corner kick was able to put another head on the ball that found the back of the net as the Broncos tied the score again.
The second overtime period ended with the score tied at 2-2 and it went to penalty shootouts.
Erik Soltow, Kear and Davis made the first three penalties for Aledo and Denton’s third shooter went over the net. Kyle Storck made the next penalty for the Bearcats, but the Broncos next shooter converted to keep things alive.
Robert Sloan had a chance to ice the game for Aledo, but his shot was saved by Denton’s keeper to keep things alive. Thankfully, the Broncos next shooter, needing to convert to keep the shootout going, missed the goal and the Bearcats exploded in celebration.
Coach Derek Vierling thought his team played really well overall, but wishes the team had kept the pressure on after getting two leads during the match.
“I was kind of disappointed after scoring the first goal,” Vierling said. “I don’t know if we panicked a little bit, but we kind of got out of shape, discombobulated and [Denton] started to putting some pressure on us and tied it up. I thought we had them in overtime, but they are good on set pieces.”
Vierling had expected to play South Hills in the area round, but Joshua, a team that had finished fourth in its district, won the bi-district game 2-1. This meant Aledo came into the area game as the favorites on paper and they showed it on the field as well.
The Bearcats struck first with a header from Trent Newton on a corner kick from Soltow. Also in the first half, Calvin Gruber found the back of the net from 25 yards out, getting an assist from Collin Moore.
Aledo led 2-0 at halftime.
The second half was a party for both Newton and Gruber as their teammates kept finding them.
Gruber scored two more goals, with assists from Soltow and Moore, to give him a hat trick. Not to be outdone, Gruber’s head on the ball found the back of the net two more times, one on a corner kick delivered from Soltow and another on a free kick from Ronny Sloan.
Aledo won 6-0.
With the defense limiting Joshua to only three to four real opportunities, keeper Drew Vozeh got his 15th shut out of the season. Early in the game, when the score was still 0-0, he made a great save on a one-on-one breakaway attempt that kept the game scoreless before the onslaught of goals came from his team.
Vierling was very proud of how his team controlled the ball with patience which ended up creating a lot of scoring chances. He also called out Davis for playing his part despite not showing up in the box score during this game.
“Trapper was double- and triple-teamed as they were trying to shut him down which opened up Calvin to have some great looks at goal,” Vierling said. “Plus even though Joshua effectively shut down Trapper he still was indirectly responsible for creating a bunch of the corner kicks we earned leading to two of Newton’s goals.”
As of Wednesday morning, the tentative schedule for the regional semifinal game against EP Bel Air is scheduled for noon on March 27 at Midland’s Broadband Stadium. Look to social media to confirm if that is still the case before you travel.