Successful soccer weekend for Bears

03/24/08
Matthew Brown

It was senior weekend, and a successful, satisfying one for Houston County High soccer players. Both the boys and girls teams are fighting to stay in the hunt for first place in Region 1-AAAAA, and with two wins apiece at home the Bears and Lady Bears continue to put pressure on the remainder of the league. The match that carried the most drama occurred between the Houston County boys and Colquitt County High on Friday. The Bears and Packers went to overtime, and when the penalty kick shootout was over Houston won 2-1. They followed it up with a 5-1 win on the home grass against Lowndes High. The Lady Bears scored 10 goals in two matches without giving up a single point. Houston’s girls pounded the Colquitt Lady Packers 7-0 Friday, and then came back to shutout Lowndes 3-0.

HC BOYS WRAPUP

Houston County had four penalty kick goals to only three for Colquitt County to take a victory from Packers, which came to Warner Robins with five region wins. It was 1-1 after regulation, and with a tied score, two five-minute overtime periods took place that yielded no winner.

Josh Salmon scored 10 minutes into the second half of regulation with the assist going to Christian Aguilar. But with 12 minutes left between Houston and the 1-0 win, Colquitt punched in a tying goal.

“They got a foul deep, and they just chipped it over the wall,” said head coach Chris McCook. “It was a well-executed set play. It was two teams fighting for a region title. The kids fought, played hard and were able to have enough in the tank at the end to pull it out.”

With the shootout situation, McCook said it was another case where he wants the opponent to think about who he is going to use at goalkeeper. Kyle Coldfelter played two of Colquitt’s penalty kicks while Mark Hoskins defended three. “Hoskins came off the bench. He had two stops,” said McCook. “Mark as a keeper has a little knack for doing well against PK’s. He does a good job reading it and he came up with big stops to preserve the win.”

On Saturday, the Bears’ offense made Lowndes High’s goalkeeper see more action than either Hoskins or Clodfelter. Senior Alex Baughman came up with the first shot on goal, a shot saved. But nine minutes into regulation, the Viking net-minder couldn’t handle two shots coming practically at the same time.

Salmon, a senior, scored that first goal when senior Cameron Bradley made a pass with his head to freshman Karl Chester. Chester’s shot was deflected in Salmon’s direction, and Salmon charged the net to put it in.

Chester had two headshots saved within two minutes of each other and disrupted a Lowndes throw-in and sped down the field forcing a corner kick. Dallas Hall, who had numerous free kick chances, put one in place for Bradley to tap in Houston’s second goal at 20:03. Hall, who starts at stopper, knocked away Lowndes’ first shot at 10:55. Vince Stewart also took the ball away on the Lowndes offensive end and drew a foul with less than two minutes to go in the half. After Hall had a free kick saved, Chester scored with eight seconds showing on the clock to give the Bears a 3-0 halftime lead. The Vikings stunned the home crowd a bit with a 40-yard blast that went in the left side of the goal at 38:12 of the second half. It took the Bears several minutes to respond, even though at one point both Brandon Davey and Rickie Wimsatt won clearing kicks and Wimsatt had a shot saved.

Hall’s turn to respond on defense came with 20 minutes remaining as he cleared two Lowndes free kicks with his head. One of his own free kicks resulted in a corner taken by senior Lewis McDaniel. Davey hit the ball in with his head at 17:12 (4-1).

Ryan Barrick and Shawn Wharton each played a strong game on defense with several good clearing kicks. McDaniel had a shot at 13:20 saved off the keeper’s hands, but Rick Volkert got his name in the scoring column with a rebound goal. The two wins put the Bears at 7-1 in 1-AAAAA, 11-2 overall.

LADY BEARS WRAPUP

“Two region wins, so we’re happy right now,” said Houston girls soccer coach Sid Baxley after Saturday’s win against Lowndes put his team at 7-1 in the region.

The Lady Bears led the Vikettes only 1-0 at halftime on a shot off the body up close by Kierston Wharton at 34:38. Kayla Beitler won a 50-50 ball several yards away from the goal and put it amid her teammates in the box.

Other Houston players had a chance to score in the half, Amanda Coggins nearly making a long distance shot and Elizabeth Weber bashing the ball hard only to see it saved. Starters Gracie Preston and Jessica Scarlett also had shots saved.

Baxley substituted six players at once for 10 minutes of the half and got fine defensive play from Denise Markel and Jackie Matusiak. Wharton didn’t leave the field, though, and she experienced frustrations as she made a strong crossing pass on the run, but Preston missed with a header. She also put a good move on her defender but had her shot saved with less six minutes remaining.

Coggins, seeing how hard it was for Houston to get a good shot on goal early in the second half, hit a ball low and at a left angle from 20 yards out. It went in good at 32:05 for a 2-0 lead. Baxley finally saw some good execution as a Preston pass over the middle went to Kailey Garrison, who scored on the run at 28:21.

It was a beautiful pass,” he said. “She put it right on the money. Kailey got it in stride and took it right to the goal. “We always think we could have a lot more,” the coach said about all the other missed chances. “We had a lot of shots we didn’t make, but as long as we keep the other team from scoring.”

Garrison had two goals Friday in the win against Colquitt. Other goals came from Weber, Beitler and Samantha Wheeler.

Soccer teams drop two to Houston County — The Colquitt County boys soccer team has been involved in eight games this season in which the final score was 2-1.
 The Packers have won four of those. Their opponents, including Houston County on Friday night, have won the other four.  And it was a frustrating loss for the Packers, who have yet to defeat the Bears.
Colquitt County tied the match 1-1 on a header by Hudson Wrenn on a ball played in by Spencer Clayton with 11 minutes remaining in regulation.  It was Wrenn’s first goal of the season.  And the score remained tied through the next 21 minutes, sending the game into penalty kicks, where the Bears outscored the Packers 4-2.
The Houston victory broke a tie with Colquitt County atop the Region 1-AAAAA standings.
The Bears are now 6-1 and in first place in the region. The Packers fall to 5-2 in the region — and 7-5 overall — with home games against Warner Robins on Tuesday and Houston County next Friday.
The Packers have not defeated Houston County since the Bears joined the region in 2005.
“We played a great game,” said Packers coach Rob Craft. “I’m not ashamed or disappointed in the way they played.”
Craft said he was especially pleased with the play of Morgan Castellow.
“And Trey (Brooks) made some great saves to get us into overtime,” Craft said. “It’s disappointing and it hurts, but we know we can play with them.
“Next Friday they are coming to our house and we want to repay the favor.”
Houston County also won the evening’s first game, taking a 7-0 victory over the Lady Packers.
The win raises the Lady Bears region record to 6-1 and their overall record to 7-3.
The loss was the third in a row for the Lady Packers, who fall to 5-7 overall and 2-5 in the region.The Lady Packers, who have been bedeviled by injuries all season, started without Anna Hall and then lost Suzi Hernandez during the game.
“We’ve just got to win to come back and win some games in the next go round,” Coach Jimbo Jarvis said. including Houston County on Friday night, have won the other four.The Packers have won four of those. Their opponents, including Houston County on Friday night, have won the other four.  And it was a frustrating loss for the Packers, who have yet to defeat the Bears.
Colquitt County tied the match 1-1 on a header by Hudson Wrenn on a ball played in by Spencer Clayton with 11 minutes remaining in regulation.  It was Wrenn’s first goal of the season.  And the score remained tied through the next 21 minutes, sending the game into penalty kicks, where the Bears outscored the Packers 4-2.
The Houston victory broke a tie with Colquitt County atop the Region 1-AAAAA standings.
The Bears are now 6-1 and in first place in the region. The Packers fall to 5-2 in the region — and 7-5 overall — with home games against Warner Robins on Tuesday and Houston County next Friday.
The Packers have not defeated Houston County since the Bears joined the region in 2005.
“We played a great game,” said Packers coach Rob Craft. “I’m not ashamed or disappointed in the way they played.”
Craft said he was especially pleased with the play of Morgan Castellow.
“And Trey (Brooks) made some great saves to get us into overtime,” Craft said. “It’s disappointing and it hurts, but we know we can play with them.
“Next Friday they are coming to our house and we want to repay the favor.”
Houston County also won the evening’s first game, taking a 7-0 victory over the Lady Packers.
The win raises the Lady Bears region record to 6-1 and their overall record to 7-3.
The loss was the third in a row for the Lady Packers, who fall to 5-7 overall and 2-5 in the region.The Lady Packers, who have been bedeviled by injuries all season, started without Anna Hall and then lost Suzi Hernandez during the game.
“We’ve just got to win to come back and win some games in the next go round,” Coach Jimbo Jarvis said.