BISMARCK — The Oakwood/Salt Fork boys soccer team may be young, but they make the most of the big moments.
Entering the second half of Saturday’s IHSA Class 1A regional, the Comets were down 1-0 to Fisher/Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley, but they were ready to fight back.
Mason Swartz scored in the second half to tie things up and Pedro Rangel V scored on a penalty kick in the second half of overtime to give OSF a 2-1 win and its third straight regional championship.
“It’s definitely tough getting into a situation like that where it feels like I have all the pressure but when it comes down to it,” Rangel said. “I felt like I had it because from multiple PKs though the year and my teammates behind me for support even if I miss. It happened to go straight where I wanted it and it is the best sensation in the world.”
“We moved him to striker to make some things happen and we had better opportunities in the second half and overtime,” OSF coach Eric Fenton said about Rangel. “He is our guy on PKs and when that whistle blew, I knew who to go to.”
The Bunnies scored the first goal when Joey Goodwin scored on an assist from Lane Beyers and outplayed the Comets for most of the half.
“They are a good team and they play the right way without the ball and we were not doing a good job matching it,” Fenton said. “We were warned ahead of time Of No. 11 (Drew Iverson) and how things ran through him and we were waiting for the ball and they stepped in front of us and we couldn’t have played any flatter than if we tried. In the second half, we turned things around and built some momentum and we were creating better chances.”
“This whole season, we has been a second half team, It is not ideal, but it works,” OSF senior Trevor McCall said. “We have great coaches in coach Fenton and coach (Landon) Turner and they give us good talks in halftime and we pulled through.”
In the second half, Swartz scored on a assist from Tristan Wenzelman. The game stayed 1-1 through the end of regulation. After a scoreless first half of overtime, Fisher goalkeeper Cameron Keading was called for a penalty, setting up the penalty kick for Rangel and redemption for last year’s sectional. In that game, the Bunnies beat the Comets 3-1.
“These guys knocked us out of sectionals last year and they have a new coach, but there is no real overlap and it was great to get some revenge,” Fenton said.
The team has had ups and downs as they tried to navigate with only three seniors on the roster.
“We have a young team this year and it was difficult to start the season,” McCall said. “But we have grown and there has been team bonding and we are coming together and it has been good. We only have three seniors, but we lead everything in practice.”
“From the start of the year, everyone felt after we lost a couple of players that were were not going to do as good as last year,” Rangel said. “But I knew with the players and development we were going to get, we are going to have a solid team throughout. Everyone was going to communicate and have everyone’s back and we are like a family and it makes things easier.”
“The two seniors (McCall and Connor Taflinger) that start are the backbone of the defense along with Lucas Tyas,” Fenton said. “Games like this, they put their work in even if they don’t see their name in the scorebook.”
OSF goalkeeper Riglee Hart had five saves in goal, while Keading had seven.
The Comets are 18-7 and will play host Williamville today in sectional play at 5 p.m.
“This will be a tough competition,” Rangel said. “We just have to play like we do every game, give it all we got and leave it on the field.”
“It’s going to be a trek, but we will take it and we don’t want to complain,” Fenton said. “Losing 13 seniors from last year and having those main three of Rangel, Swartz and (Owen) Rhinehart spearheading our attack, it has been a much better season than I anticipated.”