A star scorer, a “brick wall” defense and a talented young nucleus has meant a winning formula for the Logan-Rogersville soccer team.
But even the Wildcats didn’t anticipate the 2023 season would play out like this.
Logan-Rogersville (24-0 overall) continued its historic campaign on Tuesday night, thumping Bolivar 4-0 in the Class 2 District 5 Tournament championship match. The victory gives Logan-Rogersville its second district championship in three seasons.
“This year has been special,” said Logan-Rogersville coach Brett Wubbena. “I never expected an undefeated season to happen.”
Wildcats senior Stewart McDonald had a hat trick, with all three goals coming in the first 25 minutes of the match. Freshman Jason Bevzyuk added an insurance goal shortly before halftime as the Wildcats beat Bolivar for the third time this season.
“We have a good mix of guys,” Wubbena said. “The seniors that we have were part of our state quarterfinal game (two years ago) that we ended up losing in PKs. We just felt we should’ve been better that day. They’re still holding on to that. We still have more to do.”
Logan-Rogersville will host Sacred Heart (23-4 overall) this Saturday, Nov. 11 in the Class 2 quarterfinal round. With a win, the Wildcats would advance to the state final four for the first time in program history.
“This is what we’ve dreamed of all season,” McDonald said. “We worked hard in the summer and we’ve had a pretty good season. We didn’t want to hold back tonight. We wanted to earn this. We wanted to show everyone that – little Rogersville – we can stand up.”
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While team expectations were understandably high coming into the season – Logan-Rogersville went 21-4 overall last year and 19-5 two years ago – no one saw an undefeated season coming.
The Wildcats have a predominantly young roster. Many freshmen and sophomores play key roles.
“I think it’s been quite a big surprise. We’ve had some really good freshmen step up and play their roles very well,” said Wildcats senior defender and co-captain Caleb Vogt. “They fit into the system that we’ve built. Overall, we’ve just really connected as a team and built our chemistry up from Day One to now.”
The Liberators, who played Logan-Rogersville twice in the regular season and lost by one goal both times, were hoping the third time would be the charm.
But the Wildcats had no big-match jitters on Tuesday night. McDonald scored less than a minute into the match. He added two more goals, a header and a PK, and now sits at 45 goals for the season.
“Logan-Rogersville, they’re impressive,” said Bolivar coach Steve Fast. “They came out super fired up like a buzzsaw and got the early scores.”
In the back, Logan-Rogersville’s defense recorded its 18th shutout of the season.
Wildcats senior goalkeeper Brady Goodson preserved the shutout when he denied a Bolivar penalty kick in the 53rd minute.
“I was to the moon and back excited about that save, honestly,” Vogt said. “I personally didn’t think the (foul) happened in the box, so I was just excited to see he saved it. He’s been really good with PKs all year. He’s been a force.”
Added McDonald: “Brady’s a stud back there. He’s a brick wall. We call him Superman for a reason.”
Bolivar finishes 16-9 overall. The Liberators were seeking their first district championship since the 2020 season.
“I told the guys I was really proud of them,” Fast said. “To get 16 wins with our conference and our schedule, being a little bitty school amongst all the giants, that’s impressive for them. They beat some really good teams and competed well with other good teams. It just wasn’t our night tonight.”
Tuesday night marked the end of an era for Bolivar’s soccer program.
Fast and assistant coach Jeff Edge, Bolivar’s longtime coaches, will be retiring at the end of the school year. The duo will finish by coaching the girls’ team in the spring.
