Millbrook boys soccer
Millbrook senior Parker Eden (right) collides with a Durham Riverside defender during the Wildcats' first-round playoff match-up Wednesday. The Pirates pulled out a 4-2 win in a shootout.
Millbrook soccer falls in
PK shootout at Riverside
Yes, the Wildcats' situation may have felt dire Wednesday — state playoff game, on the road at Durham Riverside, deadlocked at 1-1 and facing a shootout conclusion — but Millbrook soccer coach Matt Edwards said he felt confident, especially after keeper Spencer LaCivita thwarted the Pirates' first attempt.
Then Wildcat forward Austin Dietz buried his kick, giving Millbrook a 1-0 advantage in a match which seemed to have no end, lasting regulation and 30 minutes worth of overtime.
"It was a situation we felt good about because we have the best goalkeeper in the state, and we started out how we wanted," he shrugged, alluding to Dietz's goal. "But we just didn't finish."
Riverside's next three penalty kicks each found their destination, including one glancing off a post and in, while the Wildcats were held scoreless,
On Millbrook's fourth and final attempt, Riverside keeper Ivan Ramirez made a clean block, sealing the 4-2 win and setting off a Pirate celebratory pile-up on the field.
Edwards lauded Riverside's resiliency for overcoming its early shootout deficit.
Click here to see highlights of the first-round playoff contest.
"To their credit, they missed the first one but didn't go away," the coach said. "They could have clamped up, but they didn't. Every one of their shots was very confident, very solid."
Edwards explained the Wildcats should have no regrets following the defeat.
"I will pick that five any day of the week," he said of shootouts participants. "It was just unlucky. A shootout is not something you can really prepare for. And they don't happen that often. This is our first one since 2003."
Early on, it didn't look like overtime was going to be necessary as the Pirates jumped out early, notching a goal in the first 15 minutes, and Riverside's lead stood through most of the second half.
Edwards explained the early score gave Riverside a boost of confidence against an unknown adversary.
"We didn't have a whole lot of common opponents, we didn't know a whole lot about each other and we really don't even have that many kids who play on (club) teams together," the coach said. "And when they came out and scored that early goal, I think it really helped them.
"Even when we got our goal, I think they were able to weather the storm, and they felt like they had a enough to win the game. That says a lot about their confidence."
After a handful of near-misses, the Wildcats finally got on the board following a free kick which eventually came to the feet of senior Trevor Kovacs, who sailed a kick over the outstretched arms of Ramirez.
It was just another insistence of Kovacs, the quintessential team player, setting up, Edwards said.
"He hasn't played a lot lately, and he's played a ton of different roles here, but he has never given up," the coach said. "I could not be more excited for that kid and for his effort.
"He was willing to put himself in that position, willing to take a chance. We needed someone to put themselves out there. Be willing to shank one into the stands. And he came through."
Regulation ended with the game still tied, leading to two 10-minute overtime periods. The two session came and went without a score, though not without a handful of close calls.
Eight minutes in, the Pirates tallied a goal only to have an offsides penalty negate it. Then, less than a minute later, Chauncey Cleveland fired a shot on-goal, Riverside's Ramirez attempted to corral it and Dietz swooped in and served it into the net.
But the play was waved off because the official ruled it was in Ramirez's grasp.
The second 10-minute overtime period and resulting two five-minute overtimes were much more uneventful, leading to the penalty kick shootout.
Following the heart wrenching loss, the Wildcats huddled, with the Pirates fans and followers still celebrating in the background. After the meeting continued, Edwards shared a few hugs for his exiting players, many of them seniors playing their final Millbrook game.
The defeat concluded the careers of Parker Eden, Mark Hoffman, Connor Karr, Ryan Margosian, Bradley Newman, Matthew Smith and Kovacs.
It's a group which has special meaning for Edwards.
"That senior class, when they were freshmen when I took over the jayvee program," he recalled. "Most of them played varsity the next year, and took their lumps. They won three games that year, but over their next two years they won 32 games. 32 of 45.
"If you look at that, you can see they have changed the culture of Millbrook soccer. They have given so much back to me and this program.
And I am very proud of them."
