War Eagles soar past Bulldogs to remain undefeated

SHENANDOAH, Texas - The Oak Ridge War Eagles varsity soccer team defeated the Summer Creek Bulldogs 4-0 Tuesday night, playing with unexpected speed that shocked the Bulldogs, especially when the game was believed to be over.

The War Eagles (4-0-2) scored one goal in the first half due to the efforts of Senior Marcos Chavez and Junior Christian Treto. Chavez took a corner kick for the War Eagles in the 29th-minute and sent the ball to the back side of the goal, where Treto took advantage of his placement and headed it back across the face of the goal and into the back corner of the net. This goal led the War Eagles into half time up 1-0.

Despite winning by four goals, Oak Ridge coach Gareth Glick believes his team can do better. “We were not super happy with the performance. They have been struggling all year, and I think we were still trying to get back up from last Tuesday. It was not our best performance, we kind of sleepwalked through it, but we will take the three points.”

Glick made sure every player had an opportunity to play during this game, even going as far as to sub keepers in the last 10 minute of play. However, the change in lineup did not affect the momentum of the team, as the War Eagles scored an additional 3 goals in the second half.

The second goal for Oak Ridge came in the 15th-minute of the second half, once again due to the team’s placement and determination in the situation of a corner kick. Chavez once again took the kick, and similar to the previous goal, Christian Treto was there to get on the end of it. However, Treto’s shot was deflected by the Summer Creek keeper, but Junior Alex Hernandez was ready for the rebound and shot the ball while the keeper was still on the ground. This gave the War Eagle a two goal lead, but was not the end of their scoring streak.

The last minute of the game was packed with action, as during this minute the War Eagles scored the final two goals of the game. Forward Laurens Kremer of Oak Ridge headed a ball into the back of the net via an assist from fellow Forward Logan Aucoin, who crossed the ball in from the back side with 57 seconds left. Kremer waited on the back post of the goal, and made sure to employ as much accuracy as possible in directing the ball with his head into the goal. Nearly 40 seconds later, with 18 seconds left in the game, Aucoin made another key play, and shot the ball off of a short-played Oak Ridge Corner. The speed of the play appeared to be rather shocking to Summer Creek, who did not react much out of lack of anticipation not only for a short corner, but an almost immediate play and goal with so little time left. This goal brought Oak Ridge up 4-0 over Summer Creek just seconds before the whistle.

The Oak Ridge War Eagles continue district play Friday, February 20 at home against Kingwood at 7:30.