HS Boys Soccer: Oak Ridge overcomes red card to beat Livingston

Oak Ridge, TX -- It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. We’ve heard that saying a million times, but it proved to be true once again on Tuesday night as the Oak Ridge War Eagles overcame a bad first half to defeat the Livingston Lions 2-1 in their home opener.

“So, the first half, to me, was a disaster.” That’s how Oak Ridge head coach Victor Olivares described a wild first half that had his team down a man and a goal at the end of 40 minutes. The game opened with Oak Ridge attempting to control more of the ball, but it wasn’t long before things broke down and became a bit of a back and forth scramble in the midfield. This would become an advantage for Livingston as the Lions’ attack was very dangerous all night.

With the game starting to open up, Livingston’s pressure became a hassle for the Oak Ridge defense and especially for goalkeeper Lucas Hickey. Hickey was forced to make multiple saves to keep the Lions off the scoreboard, but midway through the half, he was caught in no man’s land by a dangerous long ball sent over the top of the War Eagles’ backline. With no choice but to come off his line and attempt to clear the ball, he collided with the Livingston attacker, earning a red card for Denial of an Obvious Goal Scoring Opportunity. Down a man and with a backup goalkeeper coming in cold off the bench, it wasn’t long until the Lions took advantage and scored the opening goal.

“I wasn’t pleased with the first half,” said Coach Olivares. “We came here with the wrong attitude, doing things that we usually don’t do. We got a red card, we gave them multiple chances to score because we were giving away the ball in areas that we shouldn’t. So, I wasn’t impressed with the first half.”

Olivares attributed the undisciplined start to being a young club learning to handle their recent success in tournament games prior to Tuesday’s match.

“These guys are young,” said Olivares. “They win a couple of games and get excited and think they need to show more instead of staying with the basics.”

Olivares said his halftime talk was just about focusing on their style of play and sticking to it.

“I told them that we need to get back to what we do best and be loyal to our style,” said Olivares. “I told them that we’re going to win this game if we do that.”

The War Eagles listened to the words of their coach and went on to prove him right. Oak Ridge’s style of play in the second half was so much more fluid and it looked as if each pass, each run, each decision was a part of a plan. The game continued to be an open back and forth game with multiple chances at each end of the field, but those chances seemed to be earned by great build-up play with players all on the same page, instead of the wacky randomness of the first half.

The attacking play in the second half was upgraded by Oak Ridge’s Gonzalo Strippe. With Strippe leading the charge up top, the War Eagles, at times, looked like they were the team with the man-advantage for a large part of the half. Strippe was able to bury both of his chances in the back of the net, including a stunning strike from distance to complete the comeback. Finishing was ultimately the deciding factor in Tuesday’s game. While Livingston had the most high-quality scoring chances, including two shots that hit the woodwork, Oak Ridge converted on their best looks and that’s why they came away with the win despite playing with 10 men.

“I think there was a difference in the second half,” said Olivares. “When we had the ball, we had more control. We were patient and we created opportunities. Even though the other team was very dangerous, they didn’t take advantage of the chances they had, and we ended up scoring two goals that gave us the win.”

He may not have liked the overall performance on the night, but like everyone, Coach Olivares knows winning isn’t easy and is always grateful when the team comes away with a victory.

“I’m not pleased with the performance,” said Olivares. “But I’m extremely happy with how these guys came back and did what they had to do to win this game. Each one of them came back in the second half, applied themselves to the system, believed in what they needed to do and got the win that they deserved, in my opinion.”

Oak Ridge is now 4-0 to start the year and will return to the pitch in about a week when they host Magnolia West on January 17.