Gilmer High soccer punched its ticket to the second round with a sound victory over Cairo.
The GHS Bobcats hosted the Syrupmakers last Friday to begin the Class 3A state playoffs, and it was not a sweet trip for the visitors. GHS controlled the pace of the match and were continually on the attack. The Cats’ efforts paid off right before the half for a two-goal lead.
The second half mirrored the first as Gilmer controlled the midfield and the game. The Syrupmakers found themselves in a sticky situation as the Cats added two more insurance goals. Senior striker Liam Engels’ third goal of the day was the Cats’ final as they won handily, 4-0.
“I’m very proud of the boys,” said head coach Taylor Johnstone of the program’s first playoff win. “We have completely established a culture here. We always expect to win. We expect to go to the playoffs from here on out.”
The game did not lack physicality, which came naturally for the Bobcats.
“The weight room is a huge deal for us. All of our kids are in the weight room. That was a very strong team and they were physical. They play a lot like us. We’re a physical team. We knew it was going to be a scrappy battle once both teams got going. Both teams got knocked down and it was fun to watch. The refs let them play.”
However, the Cats’ approach was a bit different from what has led to so much success this season.
“We had some nerves, and the boys shook it off after about 12 minutes and we were able to string some passes together,” said Johnstone. “We have a very strong midfield, and it has been one of our advantages all year. We needed this game because we expected one of their boys to be in the midfield as well playing strong and we were going to lock it down.
“We decided we were going to try and counter today. It took us a minute to get it going. We didn’t want to resort to just kicking it through. We started finding the balls up the field, dropping it back a bit and swinging it around. I feel like we did a fantastic job of that.”
Cario’s man in the middle was Dray Bass, who led the Syrupmakers with 16 goals.
“He was really their maestro in all the film we watched,” said Johnstone. “They started him at left wing, which played right into our advantage because that’s where our best players are. They track all the way up and all the way back down, and he didn’t do a very good job of getting back down the field, so we took advantage of that.”
Angel Garcia unleashed Gilmer’s first shot five minutes into the match, but the Cats had a great scoring opportunity at the midpoint of the half. Calvin Lian got his head on Jorge Flores’ corner kick, but could not finish.
Gilmer’s efforts paid off tremendously over a minute span. With eight minutes left in the half, Flores sent a cross into the box. Engel was there and shielded a defender before scoring from 5 yards away.
A minute later, Garcia’s 25-yard pass was right on target, and a charging Engel headed the ball into the net from close range
Like the first half, Cairo’s offensive production was slower than molasses over the final 40 minutes.
Alex Tercero and Garcia fired shots to begin the second half, and GHS cashed in again after 15 minutes of play. On a counter, Brayner Ortiz raced with the ball inside the box along the left wing. His pinpoint pass back to the top of the box found Ronald Cuz, who sent a rocket into the top right corner of the net from 21 yards.
Goalkeeper Talyn Curtis and the defense continued to stand strong as Cairo scrambled for a goal. With under eight minutes to play, Engel completed his hat trick. This time a deflected shot found him 14 yards from the goal on the right side. Engel smashed the ball with the outside of his right foot and curled it in off the far post.
Nine of Cairo’s shots were off target, and Curtis was there to make three saves.
The victory sets up a Friday match at No. 1 seeded Whitewater (15-2). Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.