It was like watching two different games.
At halftime in the DI-AAA Boys State Soccer Championship game on Friday afternoon, the Ravenwood Raptors were up 2-1 and 40 minutes away from taking home the trophy.
But the Bearden Bulldogs scored four goals in the second half, while shutting down Ravenwood’s offense, to win 5-2.
Ravenwood managed four shots on goal against nine by Bearden. Jake HIll took three, one on goal, and scored once. Greyson Hetherington took two shots, both on goal, and scored the Raptor’s second and last goal. The teams combined for just one assist, by Bearden’s Kelvin Garcia.
Gabe Alvarez seemed more wolf than bulldog for Bearden. Tearing apart the Raptor defense, he scored three goals on nine shots,- as many as the Raptors took total. As a team Bearden shot 17 times, nine on goal.
Hill scored first, putting Ravenwood up 1-0 barely a minute into the game, bending a free kick around Bearden’s goalkeeper Randall Bishop and into the corner.
But Bearden evened things out 14:25 in, when Alvarez headed Kelvin Garcia’s pass from the right side of the box and past goalkeeper Kyler Shakeshaft.
The Raptors took the lead again with a little more than ten minutes left in the first half. After a Bearden corner kick led to a just-wide header by Mitchell Mazrimas, Ravenwood pushed.
A sweet move by Hetherington in front of the net, surrounded by Bulldogs, put Ravenwood up 2-1 with 11:27 left in the first.
It took Bearden just three minutes to tie the game after the break, with a goal by Will Lewis. He hit it in after a Raptor defender deflected it.
The teams locked into a rhythmic back and forth until the 61:53 minute mark. With just less than 18 minutes remaining, Alvarez broke past the defenders and scored, center net.
Down 3-2 with time slipping away, the Raptors began pushing a bit, increasing their intensity but also taking more risks.
Things got a bit chippy. Over the next 15 minutes Bearden got two yellow cards, three fouls called against it, but it seemed to have an effect as the Bulldogs clearly looked like the aggressor.
They got off two shots in the time the Raptors had none; the third, with less than two minutes left, went in.
From the left side of the box, Garcia took his shot. Jack Hyatt- who played the entire second half in the net in place of Shakeshaft- saw the ball bounce off his outstretched fingers into the net and the ‘Dogs took a 4-2 lead.
Desperation time for Ravenwood, to no avail. With just five seconds left Alvarez line up for a free kick. It- ping!- bounced off the far post and rolled into the net.
5-2, Bearden HIgh School is the state champ.
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