By Jim Irish
Photos by Chris White
Bastrop High School’s boys soccer season ended without warning on a corner kick with 22 ticks of the clock remaining in the match.
Montgomery Lake Creek’s Landon Wallace placed the corner kick in front of the far side of the Bastrop goal. Center back Dane Douglas leapt and headed it away from Bastrop goalkeeper Ezra Gaona, who had no shot at blocking it, into the net.
In a blink of an eye, Bastrop’s run in the state’s playoffs concluded with a 3-2 loss in the region semifinals at Cub Stadium in Brenham. The loss was Bastrop’s only second of the season.
"... Our defender got beat, and I should have been in a better position."
-- Bastrop goalkeeper Ezra Gaona on game-winning goal
Gaona, the star of the match in the area round with two stops in a shootout, complimented Lake Creek as a "really good team.” But sadness was evident on his face.
"(Wallace) put the ball in a good space,” Gaona said. "Our defender got beat, and I should have been in a better position.”
Bastrop first-year coach Greg Vuagniaux, a Nebraska native, spoke about the importance of "little moments” in a match.
"Set pieces (a corner kick being one) are game-changing moments,” he said. “You gotta execute. The team that executes usually wins.”
Lake Creek’s Douglas normally plays in the midfield but was pressed into duty with the starting center back injured.
Lake Creek coach George Hourahan described the winning goal from his vantage point.
"Set pieces are game-changing moments. You gotta execute. The team that executes usually wins."
-- Bastrop coach Greg Vuagniaux
"A defender knocks the ball out, and we get a corner kick,” he said. "We have an aerial advantage with our baseline players. We’ve shone that all season.
"There on the last corner kick, I just called my center back and said to him, ‘Hey, it’s an important time. I need you to go in the box, and he’s the one who put that goal in.'”
In the second half, Lake Creek had four corner kicks to Bastrop’s one. The more corner kicks a team has, the greater percentage of scoring, which was the case in this match.
Bastrop, however, had more shots on goal 8-3 in the second half.
"All that matter are the ones that go in,” Hourahan said.
"All that matter are the ones that go in."
-- Lake Creek coach George Hourahan
Bastrop attacked early with scoring opportunities. In the second minute of the match, the Bears (16-2-6) nearly scored, but Lake Creek goalkeeper Matt Jacobik turned aside two point-blank shots.
Jacobik, a senior, had never played goalkeeper and joined the team to play “with his buddies,” according to Hourahan.
"He’s just grown throughout the year,” Hourahan said. "We call him ‘Big-time Matt.’ “
Isaac Velasquez, one of three freshmen starters for Bastrop, beat Jacobik to the right corner from close range for a 1-0 lead.
A minute later, Lake Creek equaled it on a penalty kick by Reid Robert after Jorge Ribeles was called for a handball in the box.
In the 36th minute of the first half, Lake Creek midfielder Grant Landry turned and chipped a shot that bounced off the crossbar and in for 2-1 advantage.
Bastrop’s Angel Chavez beat Jacobik to the left on a penalty kick in the 56th minute. Isaac Dugger had been fouled in the box setting up the penalty kick.
Bastrop had four more shots on goal after the penalty kick, but Jacobik saved each one.
Lake Creek was slapped with four yellow cards during the match, including one by Hourahan, who had been warned about talking to the officials. Bastrop received one yellow card.
"It's been a long, heartfelt journey. I'll never forget it. ... If I'm blessed to have my memory before I die, I'll never forget this group."
-- Vuagniaux
Bastrop's Franklin Gutierrez, a freshman midfielder, was tackled just below the knee by Lake Creek's Matt Sanford in the 14th minute. Sanford received a yellow card, but it could have easily been a red card because he wasn't near the ball. Gutierrez did not return to the match.
Vuagniaux looked back at a memorable season after the match.
”It’s been a long, heartfelt journey,” he said. “I’ll never forget it. I might live to be 100 years. If I’m blessed to have my memory before I die, I’ll never forget this group.”
Lake Creek (17-4-3) faces Kingwood Park (20-3-2) in the region finals Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Humble’s Turner Stadium.
Jim Irish is a freelance writer in Bastrop, Texas
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Bastrop's Franklin Gutierrez, a starting freshman midfielder, was hit below the knee on a tackle in the first half and never returned to the game.
Vuagniaux looked back at a memorable season after the match.
"It’s been a long heartfelt journey,” he said. “I’ll never forget it. I might live to be 100 years. If I’m blessed to have my memory before I die, I’ll never forget this group.”
Lake Creek (17-4-3) faces Kingwood Park (20-3-2) in the region finals Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Humble’s Turner Stadium.
Jim Irish is a freelance writer in Bastrop, Texas