The boys soccer team went head-to-head with the Liberal Redskins on Nov. 5 in a fight for the State championship.
The first half began with several runs by seniors Taylor Walter and Cole McCubbin, giving BV players a few chances to score.
In the 16th minute, McCubbin scored a goal with an assist by Walter, but an offsides call by the referee kept the game tied at 0-0.
With a little less than 6 minutes left in the half, senior Christian Muñoz was injured and temporarily taken out of the game. He returned with 2 minutes left in the half to take a corner kick.
Despite more attempts at a goal, the half ended with a score of 0-0.
The Redskins came back after the half, scoring into the bottom left corner of the goal after only a few minutes.
The Tigers had a few scoring opportunities with free kicks off penalties, but shots were deflected by the Liberal defense.
The Redskins scored again at 19:57. The BV defense sprang into action, with several clears from sweeper senior Jake Hackney.
McCubbin scored the Tigers’ first goal at 13:23 on a breakaway, but BV players had little time to celebrate.
The Redskins returned with a goal less than 20 seconds later.
The rest of the game was filled with yellow cards and even a red card, taking out several BV players, but no more goals were made by either team. The game ended at 3-1.
Coach K. Dean Snell said the boys were hoping to win State after a winning streak.
“They were really bummed out,” he said. “But they have a reason to hold their heads high. They left it all on the field. Every one of them gave their best effort and as a coach that’s all I can ask for.”
Hackney said he feels disappointed that the team was unable to end the season on a win.
“We had a 5-0 run and we couldn’t finish the job,” he said. “The regular season wasn’t the best but we came together in the post season and got a good result.”
Snell said he feels proud of the team for their performance over the course of the season.
“It was a great run,” he said. “We accomplished a lot of great things.”