Rogersville soccer beats Catholic for first time in program history

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By Kai Raymer (For OzarksSportsZone.com)

It may count the same as any other regular season win, but it certainly feels a little sweeter than most.

The Rogersville Wildcats can finally say they beat Springfield Catholic.

The Wildcats exploded for three first-half goals and held on in a frantic final 20 minutes to win 3-2 on Catholic’s home field Tuesday night.

“It was always, ‘The almighty Catholic.’ That’s what we called them,” said Rogersville junior forward Austin Revels, who scored two goals. “Not anymore. For this round, anyway.”

Prior to Tuesday night, Rogersville had been 0-for all-time against its conference and frequent district foe.

“We’ve had some close games against them but, honestly, they’re usually the team to beat,” said Rogersville coach Brett Wubbena. “And I still think they are. They’re a good team.”

Rogersville jumped out to a 3-0 lead against a shell-shocked Catholic team.

“I think we definitely caught them off-guard,” said Rogersville senior and co-captain Ryan Christopher. “We definitely played our game. We put a few in, some may have been lucky, but a goal’s a goal. We just defended strong after that.”

The Irish chipped away at the deficit with a goal in the final minutes of the first half by Dane Rowe (38’) then an early second-half goal by Calvin Sanders (46’).

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME

Clinging to a 3-2 lead, the Wildcats withstood an onslaught of Catholic threats in the final 30 minutes.

Goalkeeper Justus Roderick made a diving save in the 56th minute on a shot from Catholic’s Colby Fritz.

In the 78th minute, defender Cavin Terrell did the splits to prevent a would-be goal. The net was left open after Roderick made a play on Catholic’s corner kick.

Terrell, tucked inside the far post, stretched out to preserve Rogersville’s lead.

“I screamed (in celebration) at (Terrell),” Revels said. “That was a great play. Our defenders and goalkeeper were great.”

Added Christopher: “About the longest 20 or 30 minutes of my life. I was standing up there and looking back at the clock every two seconds.”

Revels scored the game’s first two goals. The Wildcats made it 3-0 in the 35th minute when Revels set up Christopher for a beautiful one-timer.

“I just heard (Ryan) calling from the other side and I was like, ‘I gotta get it to my senior,’” Revels said. “I put it to him. Money.”

Rogersville improved to 3-1 overall. The Wildcats have scored 13 goals in their last three matches.

“We like to move the ball, we like to put balls through… We can be pretty dynamic,” Wubbena said.

Catholic (6-1 overall) suffered its first loss. The Irish do have an impressive list of early season victories against some of the area’s top Class 4 programs, including: Carthage, Republic, Ozark and Kickapoo.

If they win their district tournaments, Rogersville and Catholic would meet again in the Class 2 state sectional round.

Catholic hosts Bishop DuBourg (Sept. 14) and Festus St. Pius X (Sept. 15) this weekend. Rogersville returns to action Thursday at Webb City.

“We have nine seniors, we’re good in the back, we’ve got good people in the midfield and we have people who can score,” Wubbena said. “It could be a good year. We’ll see.”

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