Mexico boys soccer played “probably the best game” it played all season on Saturday.
Head coach Bill Gleeson was impressed by his team’s effort in its 2-1 loss to Southern …
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Mexico boys soccer played “probably the best game” it played all season on Saturday.
Head coach Bill Gleeson was impressed by his team’s effort in its 2-1 loss to Southern Boone (18-6) in the Class 2 District 4 tournament in Moberly. Mexico (6-15) fell behind 2-0 in the 62nd minute after Miles Butler’s second goal but mounted a late attack against the No. 17 team in Class 2.
“We just said, ‘You have to leave it all out there,’” Gleeson said. “You’ve got to give everything because this is it, and they did.”
Senior Grant Walker propped up Mexico with a Herculean effort in goal as he made 17 saves, including 11 during a first half that remained scoreless. Walker dove around several times, turned away a penalty kick and stuck his foot out to foil Butler’s one-on-one opportunity.
Southern Boone had much more height than Mexico and were especially aware of that after losing 5-0 to Southern Boone at home in the regular season. This time, the Bulldogs were within striking distance the whole game.
“We moved (senior) Jesus (Garcia) to center because of his speed,” Gleeson said. “We could get those through balls. We pressed high to try to catch them offsides, and if the ball does get there, we can use our speed to get rid of it.”
Gleeson said Butler was a focus and was silenced in the first half. However, Butler scored in the first minute of the first half when had some space from the right side of the net.
“If you give him room, he’s going to capitalize on it,” Gleeson said. “We gave him that little space (in the second half) and he capitalized.”
In his final game as a Bulldog, Alex Rodriguez scored in the 76th minute on a rebound off the crossbar. Alex Matuz sent the first shot toward the goal as Mexico applied some late pressure.
In the first half, Southern Boone’s Alex Sachs was issued a red card to remove him from the game. It also left the Eagles short one player, but Gleeson said they compensated.
“Since they were down a man, they flocked and just played more defense further back,” Gleeson said. “It was tough to try to get through there. With that extra little push at the end, we were able to get one through. We kept telling Alex, ‘If you get an opportunity, just shoot the ball.’”
Mexico has alternated six- and eight-win seasons the last four years, but the seniors closed their careers with their tightest district loss. Gleeson said it is unfortunate Mexico will be without the seniors but is happy most of the back line will return and expects freshman Thad DeVenney, who started on junior varsity but played some varsity near the end of the season, to eventually “be a star.”
“We did a good job of shutting them down in the first half, “Gleeson said. “In the second half, those goals were mistakes that we made, but I thought we played really well and am proud of them.”
