HS Soccer: Caney Creek Goalie Shuts Down College Park in Overtime Shoot-out

CONROE, TX –- As the basketball season is on pause and going through some tournaments, soccer is seeing some pre-season action around the state. The College Park Cavaliers traveled to Caney Creek, the newly inducted UIL 6A school, to face the Panthers in soccer match before the official non-district season begins. As a side note, in the beginning of 2021, College Park made the announcement that Mike Jaskowiak would be the new head coach for the 2021-2022 season. Coming from Klein Oak as the kicker and punters coach as well as the soccer coach, Jaskowiak brings a new perspective to the already strong College Park team.

The High School sports circuit is always up and down due to the number of students come and go through out the years. Sometimes there are major breakthroughs but other times there are those years where the team struggles. For Caney Creek and College Park the season seems to be at a neutral stand with the talented/aggressive students making plays and forcing turnovers up and down the field. For the first half it did seem to favor the Cavaliers with a quick goal at the beginning of the game by senior Gabryel Marques (#9). This spectacular goal slammed off the left goal post and into the back of the net, giving College Park the 1-0 lead. Before the half was over, Caney Creek was awarded a free kick outside the goalie box due to a penalty on the Cavaliers. This resulted in a goal which made the game tied at the half.

As Caney Creek came out for the second half, their game changed up and this time they were the aggressor. They made more shots on goal but with a penalty in the goalie box, College Park was awarded a free kick in the 34th minute of the second half. Once again Marques (#9) was accurate with his foot and found the back of the net giving the Cavaliers the lead and Marques a second goal in the game. Caney Creek turned up the heat and started to be even more aggressive, which College Park countered with their defenders stopping any sort of attack on goal. College Park showed a slight sign of weakness as they dropped coverage on a couple of attacks by Caney Creek and in one attempt the Panthers were successful in tying up the game. This goal came in the 23rd minute of the game by Caney Creek’s #21 Sophomore, Mario Leon.

As the final buzzer sounded, the game didn’t have extended time but got right down to the much-anticipated overtime shoot-out. College Park was up first but fell short as the Caney Creek goalie, Jose Martinez (#00) blocked the attempt with his foot. With one missed shot, Caney Creek had the advantage early on but it wasn’t over. College Park went on to make the next shots but fell short once again on the final shot. This game, Jose Martinez made some crucial shots on goal and gave the Panthers the win against the Cavaliers.

Both teams are set to start their pre-district season next year on January 6th. College Park is set to face Clear Falls in a tournament and Huntsville as their non-district opener on the 18th. Caney Creek is going up against Bryan for their non-district opener and will have a tournament before continuing their non-district season.