By Don Abernathy (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Behind a pair of goals from Logan-Rogersville senior Joyle Seu, the Wildcats kept their perfect record intact and advanced to the program’s first-ever Final Four with a 3-0 Class 2 Quarterfinal win over visiting Sacred Heart Saturday afternoon.
“Today’s win definitely felt great,” Seu said. “We lost this game two years ago and I remember it. It was pretty bad. It was definitely motivation for today. This win was a total team win.”
During the 2021-22 season, when Seu was a sophomore, the Wildcats lost 3-2 in penalty kicks to Excelsior Springs.
But that is a distant memory now, as Logan-Rogersville (25-0) enters uncharted waters to take on Orchard Farm (23-3) from St. Charles in their first Class 2 Final Four in Fenton on Nov. 17.
“All year, these guys have surprised me just in the way that they take care of business,” Logan-Rogersville coach Brett Wubbena said.
“I think we have only trailed twice all year, but during those two games we were still able to come back and find a way to win. I like these guys.”
With an 11 a.m. Saturday morning start time and temperatures in the 50s, it took a while for Logan-Rogersville to warm up.
Sacred Heart (23-5) was able to win a lot of 50-50 balls and keep ball possession for much of the first 20 minutes, however it couldn’t create many scoring opportunities.
“Logan-Rogersville is the best team we have played all year,” Sacred Heart coach Warren Dey said. “I was very impressed, especially with their defense.”
The Wildcats began to figure out an attack and broke the scoreless tie with 14:28 left in the first half.
Junior Marcus Sirb took an inbounds and passed to freshman Jason Bevzyuk, who flipped the ball past the keeper in the bottom right corner for a 1-0 lead at intermission.
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Despite the halftime lead, Wubbena implored his team to adjust their aggressiveness, and it proved to be the difference maker in the second half.
“I think in the first half, we played nervous,” Wubbena said. “So at halftime, I told them that they had to play faster.
“We had to get on our front foot and start taking the ball to them. We also needed to use our midfielders, because that’s our strength, and they responded well.”
Less than four minutes into the second half, Rogersville’s aggressiveness paid off when Seu scored the first of his two goals.
Seu raced past his defender, took on the keeper and beat him as well, then tapped home the Wildcats’ second goal of the game.
“My main focus was just to go to goal,” Seu said. “I reached my foot out and slightly tapped it just so the keeper couldn’t get to it, and then went to goal.”
With 12 minutes left in the game, Seu scored off a rebound at the doorstep. Senior Stewart McDonald took a free kick from outside the box, that Sacred Heart goalkeeper junior Zander Jackson stopped but couldn’t collect, and Seu pounced on the opportunity and knocked it home for a commanding 3-0 lead late in the second half.
“The keeper barely had a touch on it and he kind of went for the ball but grabbed my foot instead and I just had a tap in right there,” Seu said.
“At that point, it felt like we were going to win. We felt pretty confident from there.”
