Bears Ground Owls in Overtime Thriller
It may have taken extra minutes to finish the job, but Bradley Central ultimately got the result they hoped for on Tuesday night.
The Bears sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 3-2 extra-time District 6-AAA victory over the Ooltewah Owls.
The rain on Sunday and Monday forced the game to be moved to the Bear Stadium football field and did not kick off until 8:30 p.m. due to a lacrosse game that was scheduled beforehand.
Bradley hit Ooltewah with a three-pronged attack, as the team got scores from Brandon Perez, Brandon Vives, and Noah Canales.
Vives netted the first goal when he raced down the left side and fired a shot past the Owls keeper with 29:04 remaining in the first half.
The midfielders for the Bears led by senior Niko Shapoval controlled possession throughout the half. Their defense turned away any Ooltewah attempts for much of the half.
The Owls did appear to tie the game with just 1:28 remaining, but after conferring with the side ref, the play was ruled offside and the goal disallowed. The half ended with the Bears leading 1-0.
The Owls came out flying high in the second half and dominated possession for the opening 30 minutes.
However, Canales was able to beat his defender and get off a shot the Ooltewah keeper was unable to save, making it 2-0 Bears with 17:30 remaining in the game.
They say the most dangerous lead in soccer is a 2-0 advantage, and that proved true for Bradley.
Ooltewah answered just 20 seconds later to make it 2-1 and then struck 50 seconds after that to knot it at 2-2.
Both teams had chances to net the go-ahead goal over the next 16 minutes, but both defenses were able to stand tall to end regulation tied.
This was a district game for both teams, which meant the game could not end tied.
The overtime rules are two 10-minute periods with a "golden goal" in effect. "Golden Goal" means the game ends whenever a team scores.
Ooltewah had some excellent chances in the first OT period, but could not find the back of the net.
The game appeared to be headed for penalty kicks, when Canales crossed a ball into the box and Perez tapped it home, giving the Bears the 3-2 victory.
Now 4-3-1 on the season and 1-0 in district play, Bradley has won four straight against Ooltewah. The Owls had dropped two straight and nudges their season record down to 2-4, 0-1.
Bradley will play in front of their home fans against Walker Valley Thursday at 7 p.m.
The Mustangs (5-1-2) will roll in looking for their fourth straight victory, something Bradley surely won't give up without a fight.
