By Michael Cignoli (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
ROGERSVILLE – No matter the outcome of its district championship game, the Logan-Rogersville boys soccer team had guaranteed this season would be known as the most successful in program history.
Led by a 10-player senior class and a standout goalkeeper, the Wildcats established a new school record for wins in a season – with 15 of those 21 victories coming via shutout.
Both are significant accomplishments, but they also made the game’s result more difficult to digest.
School of the Osage converted on four of its five attempts in a penalty shootout, and Logan-Rogersville’s record-breaking season ended with a 2-1 (4-2) loss in the Class 2 District 5 championship game on Wednesday night at Wildcat Stadium.
Logan-Rogersville beat School of the Osage in last year’s district title game to win the first such championship in school history, but the Indians flipped the script in the long-awaited rematch.
After winning their program’s first district title, the Indians (18-6) advanced to the state quarterfinals, and will visit Marshall (20-2-1) or Odessa (11-8) next Saturday, November 12, for a spot in the Final Four. The Owls and Bulldogs are scheduled to play Thursday night to determine the District 6 champion.
It marked the second straight season that Logan-Rogersville’s season ended with a penalty-kick loss, as the Wildcats fell to Excelsior Springs in the state quarterfinals last fall.
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Logan-Rogersville trailed Wednesday’s game for most of the second half until senior Tyler Stewart found the equalizer in the 79th minute, forcing a sudden-death overtime. But after neither side found the golden goal in 30 scoreless minutes, the game went to penalty kicks.
The Indians scored on three of their first four attempts, while keeper Reagan O’Shea turned away two of Logan-Rogersville’s shots. That set the stage for Osage senior Tanner Colonius, who beat Logan-Rogersville keeper Brady Goodson to lift the Indians to the title.
“It’s going to be tough to beat Osage in a penalty shootout,” Logan-Rogersville coach Brett Wubbena said. “They’re real good passers. They know how to shoot a ball. But this game, we were resilient. We never said die. We brought it back (in the) last minute of regulation to take it into overtime. It’s what this team has done. To be honest, I don’t really know how we do it. We just have a great group of guys. They love each other. They play for each other. It’s just been a ton of fun this year.”
Stewart’s goal was the final highlight in a season filled with them.
The Wildcats allowed just 12 total goals in their first 24 games – Goodson surrendered just eight of them – and had won 16 of their last 17 matches entering Wednesday night.
They also improved their win total for the seventh time in the past eight seasons, going from a four-win team in 2014 to one that has played for a district title in five of the past six years.
Their lone championship during that span came last season, the senior year for two of the program’s all-time greats, twin brothers Sage Ballard and Rylen Ballard.
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“When they were freshmen, we were looking at the team and we’re thinking ‘This might be the best team that they’re ever on,” Wubbena said. “And then the next year we beat the record. And then the next year we beat that. And then the next year we beat that. And here we are like six years later – and I wouldn’t have thought that we could have ever outdone last year.”
And yet the Wildcats found a way, finishing 21-4 after last season’s then-record 19-5 campaign.
“To me, it just tells the toughness of these guys,” Wubbena said. “Just the athletic ability. They root for each other. When one kid gets hurt and he’s looking to come back, they just continue to push each other and root for each other. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Osage, the tournament’s No. 2 seed, hit the post three times in the first half but didn’t break through against top-seeded Rogersville until the 55th minute, when senior Nate Evans fired a dart from 30 yards out that curved into the upper 90.
“It’s a very, very good shot,” Logan-Rogersville senior Calvin Jones said. “I’d say that’s 1 in 100, if not 1 in 1,000. No keeper is saving that.”
Defensively, Evans and Will Faulconer led an Osage effort that was largely able to keep Logan-Rogersville in its own half of the field.
Until Stewart knocked in the rebound of Stewart McDonald’s free kick that hit the crossbar, the Wildcats’ best scoring opportunity of the night came when O’Shea misplayed a pass from his own defender and had to dive to prevent an own goal in the 61st minute.
That sequence resulted in a corner kick, and the Wildcats got the ball behind O’Shea but an Osage defender cleared it off the line and out of danger to preserve the 1-0 lead.
But as they have done all season, the Wildcats continued to pressure – and it paid off again.
“We fought until the last minute,” Jones said. “We were able to tie it up. I think that grit and just will to fight is what let us get here. Plus, we have the best defense.”
But there are no defenses in a penalty shootout, leaving the keepers alone to guess where the shooters will place the ball. It’s a scenario that’s “impossible for a goalkeeper,” Wubbena said.
McDonald and Caleb Vogt converted their attempts for Logan-Rogersville, which was tied 2-2 after two rounds. But O’Shea turned aside the next two Wildcats, and Colonius later sealed the victory.
“Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve taken a lot of penalties in practice,” Wubbena said. “As soon as I have five picked, (the lineup) changes and changes. We looked at it today and we knew what we were going to do. It wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision. The two that missed – or that were saved – they were solid. You didn’t hit your spot and the keeper did a great job of keeping it out.”
It’s a feeling the Wildcats have come to know all too well.
“I mean, it (stinks),” Jones said. “If it was up to me, we’d just do overtime until it’s over. But it is what it is. It’s how soccer has been played. I have complete faith in my guys. I don’t hold anything against any one of them. They gave it their best and we just didn’t get it this time.”
Their own state title dreams dashed, the Wildcats were quick to congratulate Osage in the post-game handshake line. Several players went as far as saying they hoped the Indians ultimately brought home an even bigger trophy than their district plaque.
“They’re the best game we’ve had so far,” Jones said. “Their players are great. So much respect for their team and what they’ve done. I hope they take it all the way.”
