Dream season ends for ‘Jackets
Stevensville’s dream season didn’t have the storybook ending they were hoping for on Saturday. Instead, in the rain and the wind, the Yellowjackets saw their hopes dashed as they lost to the Park County Rangers, 3-1, in overtime.
“I thought we controlled the game,” said Stevensville coach Ralph Serrette. “We were the better team by far.”
The two teams were pretty evenly matched. Livingston (Park County) played an aggressive game from the start while Stevensville took their time getting the feel of the game and the way Livingston played. The Rangers had several chances to score but Stevensville’s defenders and the keeper, Daniel Bradt, kept the ball out of the net for the first part of the game.
Stevensville’s only goal came at 36 minutes when Chance Coleman dribbled the ball right through several players in purple and shot up the middle for an unassisted goal. Just three minutes later, Livingston retaliated with a goal by Steve Newhouse. The teams went into the half tied at 1-all.
The second half was shaping up to be more of the same defensive battle with neither side gaining any advantages or momentum. That changes in the 69th minute when Stevensville’s Ian Perry was given a yellow card, and then another yellow card, which resulted in a red card and his ejection from the game. That forced Stevensville to play a man down the rest of the game.
“It was unfortunate of the things that happened. You can’t have somebody in that position getting a card. A yellow card is one thing but a red card in inexcusable,” said Serrette.
Stevensville made the adjustment to being one man down and held the Rangers scoreless in regulation play. With the tie, that sent the game into overtime. Soccer overtime is actually two overtime periods of 10 minutes each. The sides are swapped at the end of the first overtime period so that neither team has an advantage. Livingston’s Daniel Newhouse scored in the first overtime period to give the edge and momentum to the Rangers. Stevensville was showing some signs of fatigue and frustration but never quit attacking. Livingston’s Tom Short scored in the second OT to seal the championship.
Livingston took 15 shots on goal while Stevensville took 23. Cyler Cain, the keeper from Livingston, had 16 saves while Daniel Bradt of Stevensville had 12. Stevensville only had one corner kick and Livingston had four.
“They all played hard,” said Serrette. “They all wanted this. No one person stood out, everybody tied to play their best. It was a team effort.”
