St. Edward surprises Westminster in 1A regional
The St. Edward Green Wave boys soccer team pulled off an improbable upset in the Class 1A regional semifinals on Wednesday.
The third-seeded Green Wave (4-14-1) defeated No. 2 seed Westminster Christian Warriors (8-6-1) by a score of 5-2 at Westminster Christian High School, thanks to contributions from all over the team and according to head coach Tim Brieger, some not-so-usual suspects.
“Half of the scoring sheet is by guys I never would have seen coming,” said Brieger with a laugh. “(Alex) Lobo is an energy guy, he’s not a soccer player per se. He works his butt off, he gives energy, and we tell him what he needs to do. Kevin Olenek playing up top today, he was carrying us forward. Emilio (Guia), a freshman, just wouldn’t give up in the box, and I told the guys that was the difference. We didn’t rely on (our usual guys) to score.”
Olenek started things out in the first half with a goal for the Green Wave on a rebound of a shot from Lobo. The Warriors answered with a goal about 10 minutes later from Josh Beachler, giving him 100 goals in his illustrious high school carrer.
“Josh is probably one of the best players to come through here in years,” said Brieger. “He’s a fantastic player, he’s a leader and our kids knew it.”
In the second half, It was Beachler’s 101st carreer goal that would put the Warriors up 2-1 but this time Olenek would do the answering, scoring on a header from the right side to tie the game at 2. Just 40 seconds later, the Green Wave would take the lead on a Johnny Shepherd goal on a pass from the right side by Joe French. The outburst of offense continued for the Green Wave with 2 more goals after that — one coming off of Lobo (his first goal of the season), and one from Austin Davis on a header with about 2 minutes to go in the game.
“Johnny hit it right to the goal, and once again i tried to hold my position and I was in the right place at the right time,” said Olenek of his second goal. “I may have gotten a little lucky on that, but it was all because of Johnny.”
It was an emotional loss for Beachler, who ends an incredible high school carreer with the Warriors.
“It was a young team,” Beachler said. “Once we went up 2-1, we got a little confident and we let up our guard. They’re young so they’ll learn from their mistakes and come back strong. It’s not about the goals for me, it’s a team game. (The Warriors) were a great group of guys and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way, aside from getting a win today. It just didn’t happen that way.”
The Green Wave will take on top-sseded and undefeated Christian Liberty at noon Saturday or the regional championship.