And by the time the game ended, the Eagles were playing two men down while Bell managed to escape Shotwell Stadium with a 1-0 victory in the District 3-6A boys soccer game Wednesday.
It was a rough, physical game from the start, and the referees let much of it go for most of the night. Neither coach was happy with the way the game was called.
“There was some stuff that wasn’t handled at the beginning of the game, and someone felt like they had to make up for it at the end,” AHS coach Kyle Riese said. “Then stuff happened that wasn’t red cards and shouldn’t have been cards. I don’t know what to say about it.”
Bell coach Matt Reeves agreed it should have been handled differently from the start.
“Both teams played hard tonight,” Reeves said. “It got a little out of hand because they didn’t take care of it early. But as it went on, both teams were fighting to the end.”
District leader Bell (6-0, 10-5 overall) got the game’s lone goal when Teddy Ntambua scored off a corner kick from Aaron Dozier with 8:40 left in the first half.
Ryan Saunders, Bell’s goalie, made the score stand up by making four saves – including a diving stop on a penalty kick by Enock Gasore 10:24 into the second half.
“He’s saved several PKs this year,” Reeves said of the sophomore goalie. “He’s fantastic.”
The Eagles (4-5-7, 4-2, two shootout wins, 10 points) had a few other shots just miss off frame, and Saunders managed to tip a shot by Abram Estrada to preserve the shutout with 4:59 left in the game.
“I guess we’ve just got to be a little better finishing when you play good goalies like that,” Riese said. “It takes something a little extra.”
Before it was over, neither Estrada or Gasore would on the field. Gasore was red carded with 3:50 remaining in the game – leaving AHS with 10 players on the field. Estrada picked up his red card with 1:25 to go, forcing the Eagles to play with nine men. Neither will be able to play in AHS’ next game, too.
Riese said he’s never had a situation like that happen before.
“I don’t feel like we deserved to be in that situation,” Riese said.
The Blue Raiders dominated the first half, taking 10 shots, but putting only four on frame. AHS had two shots in the half, none on goal.
But the Eagles tur... Click here to read full article
ARTICLE SOURCE:
